New arXiv paper proves sequential hardware can't realize certain machine consciousness
Kyrannio · x · 2026-10-04
Michael Timothy Bennett's arXiv paper "A Mind Cannot Be Smeared Across Time" argues machine consciousness depends not only on what systems compute but when.
- Core argument: deployed AI systems realize functions via sequential or time-multiplexed updates, yet conscious experience feels unified and simultaneous. Extending Stack Theory with temporal-window semantics, the author proves existential temporal realization does not preserve conjunction — a system can realize all ingredients of experience across time without instantiating the experienced conjunction.
- Two postulates: Chord requires objective co-instantiation within the window (like a musical chord); Arpeggio only requires ingredients to occur within the window (like a melody). Concurrency capacity is formalized to measure what co-instantiation demands.
- Neuroscience: the paper reviews evidence that consciousness depends on phase synchrony and effective connectivity, with loss of consciousness tied to their breakdown.
- Conclusion: under Chord, software consciousness on strictly sequential substrates is impossible for contents requiring two or more simultaneous contributors — the hardware matters.
Noah Smith (Noahpinion) amplified it as "the most convincing argument against machine consciousness" he has encountered.
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