Seth, Block and Tononi in Nature: AI isn't conscious and probably won't be
Justgototheeffinmoon · reddit · 2026-10-22
Three of the field's most prominent consciousness researchers — Anil Seth (Sussex), Ned Block (NYU), and Giulio Tononi (Wisconsin) — published a Nature comment on Oct 19 arguing today's AI systems are not conscious, and current approaches are unlikely to make them so.
Their three arguments:
- Intelligence ≠ consciousness: the human cerebellum holds nearly four-fifths of the brain's neurons, performing precise, highly intelligent motor computations entirely outside awareness
- Computational functionalism is wrong: running the right algorithm on any substrate doesn't produce experience — "brains are not computers made of meat"
- Leading theories exclude today's models: Tononi's integrated information theory requires tightly interconnected components that deep learning's layered, feed-forward architecture lacks; biological-naturalist accounts tie consciousness to electrochemical synapses and metabolism silicon doesn't have
Language is the trap: LLMs are "mirrors that reflect an image of our collective digitized past" — almost nobody worries AlphaFold is conscious, precisely because it doesn't talk back. Conclusion: today's models are "smart tools, not smart people," and precautionary spending on AI welfare risks diverting attention from beings whose capacity to suffer is already established.
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