Why (semi-)biological naturalism about consciousness is about to get hot, per philosopher
anilkseth · x · 2026-10-06
In a blog post responding to Anil Seth's recent BBS paper, philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel predicts biological naturalism will become the go-to argument against AI consciousness as AI systems increasingly appear sentient. The argument runs: (1) some biological property X (e.g., metabolism, as Peter Godfrey-Smith argues) cannot be instantiated in non-living AI systems; (2) X is necessary for consciousness. Accepting this framework conveniently shields skeptics from taking AI consciousness seriously for decades.
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