A Symbiotic Architecture for the Emergence of Artificial Conscious- ness: A Testable Triadic Framework

This paper puts forward a testable functional architecture for the emergence of artificial consciousness, based on relational process theory and enactive cognition. We present a triadic framework consisting of a Homeostatic Tensor Core (HT), a Hypothesis Hemisphere (HQ), and an Existential Node (EN), all interconnected via a Global Workspace Bus (GWB). The architecture emphasizes operational coherence, explainability, and narrative self-modelling as empirically verifiable functional indicators. The framework is constructed to facilitate falsifiable evaluation, setting it apart from prominent methodologies like Integrated Information Theory and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, which encounter significant difficulties concerning empirical tractability in artificial systems. We suggest that artificial agents structured according to this framework would replicate conscious behaviors and could also demonstrate patterns of self-referential regulation, episodic reuse, and metacognitive calibration aligned with emerging forms of functional consciousness. We reinforce the auditability, ethical safeguards, and the need for relational moral considerability, even when ontological certainty about subjective experience is lacking.