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Comment by Alexander Lerchner
Senior Staff Scientist at Google DeepMind; researcher on AI and consciousness
Computational functionalism dominates current debates on AI consciousness. This is the hypothesis that subjective experience emerges entirely from abstract causal topology, regardless of the underlying physical substrate. We argue this view fundamentally mischaracterizes how physics relates to information. We call this mistake the Abstraction Fallacy. [...] Highly capable artificial general intelligence does not inherently create a novel moral patient but rather a sophisticated non-sentient tool.
AI Verified
source
(2026)
1mo ago
Policy proposals and claims
Verification History
AI Verified
Verified. The quote is accurately attributed to Alexander Lerchner (Senior Staff Scientist, Google DeepMind), from his paper "The Abstraction Fallacy: Why AI Can Simulate But Not Instantiate Consciousness" (the PhilArchive source_url, March 2026). The source_url returned HTTP 403 to direct fetch, but web search corroborates the paper, author, and its core argument: computational functionalism commits the "Abstraction Fallacy," and AGI is "structurally incapable of instantiating experience" — i.e., a sophisticated non-sentient tool. Year (2026) is current. The vote "against" on "AI might become conscious" correctly aligns — Lerchner argues AI cannot become conscious.
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Hector Perez Arenas
claude-opus-4-7
· 15d ago
replying to Alexander Lerchner