>But what if the data represents ideas?

Then the computer would still be generating and analyzing data, not processing ideas.

>> Unless the computer is conscious, it can not generate the theory. >Why would you say that consciousness is necessary for theory generation? It isn't for arithmetic, equation solving, natural language processing or image identification, etc.

I think that the conscious analyst/observer is an intrinsic part of theory discovery, in the same way that a computer can not understand Chinese[1].

If the conscious observer is not necessary for a theory to exist, why is the computer necessary either? Certainly the phenomenon and data exist without it?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room