Towards artificial general intelligence by reverse-engineering the human (heart-)mind

In this final set of explorations/meditations (of three), we examine the requirements for developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) through the lens of human cognitive architecture, with particular emphasis on the role of narrative selfhood and social cognition. Drawing on perspectives from cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and artificial intelligence research, we critically evaluate current claims about the capabilities of large language models, particularly regarding their purported achievements of theory of mind and self-awareness. We argue that genuinely human-like artificial intelligence may require more than sophisticated pattern recognition and language modeling, potentially necessitating the development of coherent narrative self-models and rich causal understanding. Special attention is given to the relationship between consciousness, conscience, and trustworthy AI systems, suggesting that meaningful artificial intelligence may require forms of richly-embodied and socially-embedded development to achieve robust and reliable functionality. We conclude by proposing that the path to artificial general intelligence may require recapitulating aspects of human cognitive development, particularly regarding the construction of narrative identity and social-moral reasoning capabilities. This analysis has implications for both the technical development of AI systems and the ethical frameworks through which we evaluate artificial minds.