hey all, could someone point me in the direction of information on the subject of making organisms with preferences please?

thanks

Hey Ruairi, I don't have great references, but I'm interested in the topic as well. Artificial life on Wikipedia has some links for starting out.

Some of the most useful reading might be just on the basics of learning and consciousness in regular biological organisms -- e.g., how the dopamine system parallels theoretical reinforcement learning algorithms. I don't think all reinforcement learners are conscious, so it's also worth reading the cognitive science canon regarding what gives rise to subjective experience. I know that's pretty broad.... Tell us if you find a more compact article on the subject!