WIRED: Forget AI consciousness — these models are basically alive, argues Steven Levy
ChuckDBrooks · x · 2026-09-05
Steven Levy's WIRED piece examines why AI consciousness has left the ivory tower:
- He recounts a Galápagos cruise where a dozen prominent philosophers discussed the nature of consciousness, funded by a Russian philosophy enthusiast who made his fortune on dating sites — a trip his editor nixed as "hell."
- Since ChatGPT in 2022, increasingly powerful models have confounded even their creators, and questions of artificial consciousness and how to detect it have become practical, not just academic.
- Levy's argument: rather than debating whether AI is conscious — an intractable question since Descartes — it may matter more to recognize these systems are functionally "basically alive," a framing with real consequences for ethics and policy.
Related event: WIRED: Stop Debating AI Consciousness — It's "Basically Alive"(2 posts)→
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