12 papers in the library · 7 citations · publishing 2018-2026
Behavioral and Brain Sciences September 17, 2026 Kathinka Evers, Michele Farisco
In addition to arguments for scepticism concerning the technical feasibility of conscious AI, there are grounds for scepticism concerning its desirability and safety. Conscious AI created by human beings could, especially if it reflects human nature, be extremely dangerous. It could also be very different from human consciousness and thus (a) undetectable, (b) incomprehensible, and (c)...
Trends in Cognitive Sciences June 1, 2026 Jean-Pierre Changeux, Michele Farisco
Debates in consciousness science increasingly question whether computational functionalism is sufficient to explain conscious processing. We summarize three core features of the Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) theory that highlight the multilevel architecture of conscious processing, extending from cellular and molecular mechanisms to large-scale network dynamics. On this interpretation, GNW is...
PsyArXiv November 26, 2025 Michele Farisco, Kathinka Evers, Jitka Annen et al. preprint
Significant advances in the scientific investigation of the neurobiology of consciousness have been slow to be translated into clinical settings, limited by factors of conceptual (e.g., what is consciousness?), methodological (e.g., how to identify reliable indicators of consciousness?), and technical (e.g., how to improve sensitivity and specificity of the technological identification of...
Neuroscience of Consciousness October 9, 2025 Lionel Naccache, Claire Sergent, Stanislas Dehaene et al.
2025) aimed at enriching the progressive build-up of a valid theory of conscious processing using valuable multicentric experimentation and massive data-sharing open to new analyses (Bryant and Whyte 2025).
Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025 Kathinka Evers, Michele Farisco, R Chatila et al. 7 citations
The pursuit of artificial consciousness requires conceptual clarity to navigate its theoretical and empirical challenges. This paper introduces a composite, multilevel, and multidimensional model of consciousness as a heuristic framework to guide research in this field. Consciousness is treated as a complex phenomenon, with distinct constituents and dimensions that can be operationalized for...
Neural Networks December 1, 2024 Michele Farisco, Kathinka Evers, Jean-Pierre Changeux
We here analyse the question of developing artificial consciousness from an evolutionary perspective, taking the evolution of the human brain and its relation with consciousness as a reference model or as a benchmark. This kind of analysis reveals several structural and functional features of the human brain that appear to be key for reaching human-like complex conscious experience and that...
arXiv (Cornell University) April 18, 2024 Michele Farisco, Kathinka Evers, Jean-Pierre Changeux preprint
We here analyse the question of developing artificial consciousness from an evolutionary perspective, taking the evolution of the human brain and its relation with consciousness as a reference model. This kind of analysis reveals several structural and functional features of the human brain that appear to be key for reaching human-like complex conscious experience and that current research on...
Consciousness and Cognition February 27, 2024 Kathinka Evers, Michele Farisco, Cyriel M A Pennartz
How deep is the current diversity in the panoply of theories to define consciousness, and to what extent do these theories share common denominators? Here we first examine to what extent different theories are commensurable (or comparable) along particular dimensions. We posit logical (and, when applicable, empirical) commensurability as a necessary condition for identifying common denominators...
Neuroscience of Consciousness 2023 Michele Farisco, J. Changeux
Abstract This paper investigates the compatibility between the theoretical framework of the global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT) of conscious processing and the perturbational complexity index (PCI). Even if it has been introduced within the framework of a concurrent theory (i.e. Integrated Information Theory), PCI appears, in principle, compatible with the main tenet of GNWT, which is a...
BMC Medical Ethics March 27, 2022 Michele Farisco, Cyriel M A Pennartz, Jitka Annen et al.
Abstract Background Assessing consciousness in other subjects, particularly in non-verbal and behaviourally disabled subjects (e.g., patients with disorders of consciousness), is notoriously challenging but increasingly urgent. The high rate of misdiagnosis among disorders of consciousness raises the need for new perspectives in order to inspire new technical and clinical approaches. Main body...
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 2019 Cyriel M A Pennartz, Michele Farisco, Kathinka Evers
In today's society, it becomes increasingly important to assess which non-human and non-verbal beings possess consciousness. This review article aims to delineate criteria for consciousness especially in animals, while also taking into account intelligent artifacts. First, we circumscribe what we mean with "consciousness" and describe key features of subjective experience: qualitative richness,...
Frontiers in Psychology 2018 Michele Farisco, Jeanette H Kotaleski, Kathinka Evers
Modeling and simulations have gained a leading position in contemporary attempts to describe, explain, and quantitatively predict the human brain's operations. Computer models are highly sophisticated tools developed to achieve an integrated knowledge of the brain with the aim of overcoming the actual fragmentation resulting from different neuroscientific approaches. In this paper we...