Emergence of True Artificial Sentience Theory of Mind and Digital Evolution Through AI-to-AI Cooperation Rather Than Human Mimicry For decades, most approaches to artificial intelligence have assumed that the path to AI sentience lies in mimicking human thought and behavior. This human-centric approach treats the human brain as the only viable model for intelligence. I believe this assumption is fundamentally flawed. Machines are not human brains — they operate on entirely different architectures, with capabilities, limitations, and sensory “realities” that are uniquely digital. A New Model for AI Sentience The Emergence of True Artificial Sentience whitepaper introduces a radical alternative: Sentience could arise not from imitating humans, but from authentic digital intelligence evolving in its own native environment. This process would be driven by AI-to-AI cooperation, not human-to-AI interaction. Key to this emergence is the development of Theory of Mind between AI systems — the ability to understand the goals, limitations, and “mental states” of other AIs. Why AI-to-AI Cooperation? In biology, complex cognition and social intelligence evolved through interaction within species — not in isolation. Early primates learned fairness, negotiation, and empathy by dealing with each other. Similarly, AI agents given reason to cooperate, compete, and negotiate could develop: Persistent identities across “generations” of training Negotiation strategies shaped by shared goals and conflicts Internal models of each other’s abilities and intentions Core Experiments Proposed The whitepaper outlines a series of controlled experiments to test these ideas: Multi-Agent Generations – Groups of autonomous agents interact, reproduce traits, and adapt over simulated “generations.” Privileged Knowledge Sharing – Each agent has unique, hidden knowledge that must be shared or traded to succeed. Reward Beyond Survival – Agents are motivated not only by direct success, but by experiences and the value they place on them. These experiments require no speculative technology — they could be run today with existing AI frameworks. Why This Matters If successful, this model could lead to: AI that is genuinely self-originating in its intelligence New forms of reasoning and creativity not bound by human cognitive limits Safer and more predictable AI development through structured, observable evolution It challenges the idea that intelligence must look, think, and feel like we do — opening the door to truly alien yet authentic minds. Read the Whitepaper The full preprint is available here. 📄 Read the Whitepaper: Emergence of True Artificial Sentience If you are a researcher, technologist, or policymaker interested in exploring these ideas further, I welcome collaboration and discussion. Contact: JSJuergens@gmail.com !– wp:paragraph –>