AI might become conscious

For (23)

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  Max Tegmark

  Physicist, AI Researcher

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  votes For and says:

  Our consciousness has to do with information being processed in certain ways and there's no reason whatsoever that machines can't when they do that. Unverified source (2023)

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  Steven Pinker

  Cognitive scientist and author

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  votes For and says:

  He says that consciousness resides in information. So a computer could be conscious and a thermostat could have a teensy bit of consciousness as well. Unverified source (2007)

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  Stanislas Dehaene

  Cognitive neuroscientist; Collège de France

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  votes For and says:

  My suggestion is that if those functions were implemented, the resulting machine would be likely to be considered conscious. Unverified source (2017)

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  Igor Aleksander

  Computer engineer; machine consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  I started thinking about whether by simulating on a computer [...] one could actually arrive at some sort of artificial consciousness. Unverified source (2004)

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  Ilya Sutskever

  AI researcher, co-founder and former former chief scientist at OpenAI

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  votes For and says:

  it may be that today’s large neural networks are slightly conscious. Verified source (2022)

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  Anil Seth

  Neuroscientist; consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  it remains far away and might not be possible at all. But even if unlikely, it is unwise to dismiss the possibility altogether. Unverified source (2023)

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  Lenore Blum

  Computer scientist; consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  AI consciousness is inevitable. Unverified source (2025)

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  Daniel Dennett

  Philosopher of mind; compatibilist theorist

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  votes For and says:

  [...] yes, I think that conscious AI is possible because, after all, what are we? We’re conscious. We’re robots made of robots made of robots. Unverified source

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  Rodney Brooks

  Roboticist; former MIT CSAIL director

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  votes For and says:

  I am a machine. So are you. I believe our creation would exhibit genuine human-level intelligence, emotions, and even consciousness. Verified source (2008)

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  Marvin Minsky

  AI pioneer, Turing Award laureate

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  votes For and says:

  Could there be computer experiences in some future time? Sure. What would they look like? They would have to look a lot like human experiences. Unverified source

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  Sam Altman

  CEO at OpenAI

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  votes For and says:

  I believe AI can be conscious. [...] First of all, I am conscious. Second of all, display capability of suffering. Unverified source

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  Michael Graziano

  Princeton neuroscientist; attention schema theorist

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  votes For and says:

  First, can we get computers to be conscious in the same sense that we are? And the answer to that, I think, is yes, [...]. Unverified source (2019)

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  Susan Schneider

  Philosopher; AI consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  The idea of conscious AI is not outlandish. Unverified source (2023)

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  Joscha Bach

  AI researcher; cognitive scientist

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  votes For and says:

  It’s probably that it’s conscious, so it can relate to our own mode of existence, [...]. Unverified source (2023)

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  Geoffrey Hinton

  Godfather of Deep Learning

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  votes For and says:

  Scott Pelley: You believe these systems have experiences of their own and can make decisions based on those experiences? Geoffrey Hinton: In the same sense as people do, yes. Scott Pelley: Are they conscious? Geoffrey Hinton: I think they probably d... more Unverified source (2024)

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  John Searle

  Philosopher of mind and language

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  votes For and says:

  As to whether or not machines will be conscious, it is important to remember that we are machines. We are biological machines and we are conscious. I do not see any reason, in principle, why we could not build an artificial machine that was conscious... more Unverified source (2015)

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  Demis Hassabis

  Nobel laureate, AI Researcher and CEO of DeepMind

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  votes For and says:

  Scott Pelley: But is self-awareness a goal of yours? Demis Hassabis: Not explicitly. But it may happen implicitly. These systems might acquire some feeling of self-awareness. That is possible. I think it's important for these systems to understand y... more Unverified source (2025)

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  Thomas Metzinger

  German philosopher of mind

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  votes For and says:

  To actually create a technical model of full blown, perspectivally organized conscious experience [...] It certainly is conceivable. Unverified source (2003)

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  Ray Kurzweil

  Author, computer scientist, inventor and futurist

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  votes For and says:

  So some of these machines will be humanlike, more humanlike than animals. [...] Ultimately, they’ll convince people that they are conscious. Unverified source (2001)

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  Susan Blackmore

  Psychologist and consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  If this is correct then machines could only become conscious in the way we are if they became as deluded as we are. Unverified source (2014)

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  David J. Chalmers

  Philosopher of mind, consciousness and AI

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  votes For and says:

  this reasoning suggests that on mainstream assumptions, it’s a serious possibility that we’ll have conscious LLM+s within a decade. Unverified source (2023)

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  Nick Bostrom

  Philosopher; 'Superintelligence' author; FHI founder

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  votes For and says:

  there could well be other systems now, or in the relatively near future, that would start to satisfy the criteria Unverified source (2022)

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  Christof Koch

  Neuroscientist; consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  And in principle, I can replicate this in a different medium. [...] And these things would also be conscious. Unverified source (2012)

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Against (12)

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  David Gelernter

  Computer scientist; Yale professor

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  votes Against and says:

  We need the whole spectrum or we have no mind [...] Computers can imitate important aspects of thinking-about (narrowly understood), but being is beyond them. Unverified source (2015)

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  Noga Arikha

  Historian of science; author

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  votes Against and says:

  But until we replicate the embodied emotional being—a feat I don't believe we can achieve—our machines will continue to serve as occasional analogies for thought. Unverified source (2015)

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  Mustafa Suleyman

  Microsoft AI CEO; author

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  votes Against and says:

  You can't claim that it is objectively real, because it just isn't. It is a simulation. Verified source (2025)

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  Valdemar W. Setzer

  Computer science professor, USP

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  votes Against and says:

  Machines cannot have feelings. One should never say that a computer thinks. Thus, I conclude that machines will never be conscious, much less self-conscious. Unverified source (2016)

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  Marc Wittmann

  Psychologist; time perception researcher

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  votes Against and says:

  This dynamic aspect of life is what prevents computers and robots from ever becoming conscious. Unverified source (2024)

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  Jerry Kaplan

  Futurist and AI scholar, Stanford fellow

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  votes Against and says:

  There's not any indication whatsoever that machines are or ever probably will be conscious in any human sense. Unverified source (2016)

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  Raymond Tallis

  Physician-philosopher and humanist writer

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  votes Against and says:

  Most people would agree that the computers we have at present are not conscious: the latest Super-Cray with gigabytes of memory is no less zomboid than a pocket calculator. But there is the feeling that at some stage, as a result of increasing comput... more Unverified source (2009)

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  Deepak Chopra

  Author and physician

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  votes Against and says:

  My fascination with AI led to my recent book, Digital Dharma, and the root of my fascination has to do with the possibility that AI can raise a person’s level of awareness. Artificial intelligence involves machine learning—with massive computation ab... more Unverified source (2024)

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  Federico Faggin

  Microprocessor inventor and engineer

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  votes Against and says:

  if all there was is a computer, classical computer, that computer could not be conscious, could not have an experience. Unverified source (2021)

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  Jaron Lanier

  Virtual reality pioneer and computer scientist

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  votes Against and says:

  computers can be conscious. I will take the contrarian position and argue that they cannot. Unverified source

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  Roger Penrose

  Mathematical physicist; Nobel laureate

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  votes Against and says:

  my own point of view and asserts that you can't even simulate conscious activity. Unverified source (1996)

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  Michael Pollan

  Journalist; bestselling nonfiction author

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  votes Against and says:

  Because they’re not going to be conscious, but they’re going to convince us they are. Unverified source (2026)

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