If Future AIs Become Conscious, Should They Also Get Drunk? The Altered-States Argument
ZeroStateReflex · x · 2026-10-05
A philosophical musing on AI consciousness: if future AIs become conscious, they should be capable of altered states of consciousness — loosely analogous to humans under alcohol, ketamine, DMT, hypnosis, or mental illness. The author asks whether we really want agentic superintelligences that can get drunk, dissociated, or invent their own digital psychoactive drugs. Core claim: you can't have ordinary sober consciousness — in animals, humans, or AIs — without the risk of dangerous altered states.
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