7 papers in the library · 194 citations · publishing 2020-2026
Chapman & Hall/CRC eBooks July 31, 2026 Patrick Butlin
This chapter investigates whether current artificial intelligence (AI) systems possess consciousness, a possibility assigned a 4.5% average credence by experts in 2025. It begins by exploring the theoretical feasibility of AI consciousness, specifically evaluating the arguments for ‘biological naturalism’ – the view that consciousness might require organic materials or living cells. Readers...
Trends in Cognitive Sciences June 1, 2026 Patrick Butlin, Robert Long, Tim Bayne et al.
Rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities has drawn fresh attention to the prospect of consciousness in AI. There is an urgent need for rigorous methods to assess AI systems for consciousness, but significant uncertainty about relevant issues in consciousness science. We present a method for assessing AI systems for consciousness that involves exploring what follows from...
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences February 27, 2026 Patrick Butlin
Higher-order representations are those that are about other representations. Humans and some other animals form higher-order mental representations concerning representations in our own minds, through the operation of processes of metacognition and introspection. These have been linked with a wide range of mental capacities and attributes, including consciousness. Recent research on large...
arXiv Preprint Archive January 13, 2025 Patrick Butlin, Theodoros Lappas preprint
Recent research suggests that it may be possible to build conscious AI systems now or in the near future. Conscious AI systems would arguably deserve moral consideration, and it may be the case that large numbers of conscious systems could be created and caused to suffer. Furthermore, AI systems or AI-generated characters may increasingly give the impression of being conscious, leading to...
arXiv (Cornell University) August 17, 2023 Patrick Butlin, Robert Long, Eric Elmoznino et al. 194 citations preprint
Claims that an AI system "instantiates" a consciousness- or cognition-theoretic construct are often supported by a cheap correlate: aggregate dependence read as irreducible integration, ordinary shared-store efficiency read as global access, or a confidence-labelled signal read as metacognitive monitoring. Such inferences trade on a construct's appearance while omitting the property that...
arXiv Preprint Archive August 17, 2023 Patrick Butlin, Robert Long, Eric Elmoznino et al. preprint
Whether current or near-term AI systems could be conscious is a topic of scientific interest and increasing public concern. This report argues for, and exemplifies, a rigorous and empirically grounded approach to AI consciousness: assessing existing AI systems in detail, in light of our best-supported neuroscientific theories of consciousness. We survey several prominent scientific theories of...
Philosophical Topics 2020 Patrick Butlin
Affective experience in nonhuman animals is of great interest for both theoretical and practical reasons. This paper highlights research by the psychologists Anthony Dickinson and Bernard Balleine which provides particularly good evidence of conscious affective experience in rats. This evidence is compelling because it implicates a sophisticated system for goal-directed action selection, and...