Google VP Argüera y Arcas: consciousness is inherently social, and that may unlock the AI question
blaiseaguera · x · 2026-08-27
In an essay for The Times of India, Blaise Agüera y Arcas, lead of Google's Paradigms of Intelligence team, argues that questions of AI consciousness are impossible to answer without first understanding what consciousness is — which may be less mysterious than we imagine. Citing his team's newly published research on multi-agent cooperation, he contends consciousness is inherently social, emerging in relationships just as intelligence emerges from multi-agent interaction.
The backdrop: for the first time in history, humans interact with nonhuman entities (AI) that behave as if conscious. Are they truly conscious or merely imitating conscious behavior without inner experience? And if conscious, does that confer rights and change how they should be treated? He contrasts the lack of scientific consensus on consciousness with India's philosophical tradition of consciousness as unified and universal.
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