AI circle clashes over qualia: why functional explanations don't solve the Hard Problem

vnovak_404 · x · 2026-10-06

In an exchange with ctjlewis, vnovak404 argues that even if most scientifically literate observers accept functional explanations of perception, these don't touch the Hard Problem of consciousness: why such systems produce qualia and a sense of self rather than mere electrical signals in a philosophical zombie.

It's a recurring AI-community debate — whether functional accounts can ever exhaust subjective experience — resurfacing against the backdrop of increasingly capable models.

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