Anil Seth pushes back hard: credence that current LLMs are conscious is near zero
burny_tech · x · 2026-10-04
Consciousness researcher Anil Seth publicly responded to scientist Ruben Laukkonen's criticism, restating that his credence that current LLMs are conscious is close to zero (over 80% confidence in the 'no consciousness' direction). He stressed this is not faith, an argument from authority, or 'unscientific' — it follows from years of research and evidence, such as the BBS journal collection with 50 commentaries.
In the same thread he also replied to philosopher Jeff Sebo: both agree AI consciousness is massively important and difficult, and that while evidence is weak the probability is nonzero and may rise with more biologically inspired architectures — but they still disagree on how to assess and address AI consciousness and welfare.
Related event: Neuroscientist Anil Seth: Odds Current LLMs Are Conscious Near Zero(2 posts)→
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