Jaron Lanier: AI consciousness is a question of faith, not science — and that taboo is a problem
iamtrask · x · 2026-09-20
iamtrask shared takeaways from a talk by Jaron Lanier on AI consciousness:
- It's impossible to scientifically prove that anyone other than yourself is conscious; belief in others' consciousness is an act of faith with social and survival benefits, at most a cultural tradition.
- AI debates are no different: if human consciousness can't be proven, you certainly can't prove AIs are or aren't conscious by examining matrix multiplications.
- The AI consciousness question is thus one of faith and philosophy, closest to sociology or anthropology, not science.
- Lanier closed by warning that it has become taboo to discuss AI without presupposing its imminent consciousness — a trend driven not by scientific inquiry but by other forces with negative externalities.
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