AI and Consciousness: A Baudrillardian Reading. The Simulacrum That Speaks Back
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) May 26, 2026 Danko Viktor Vidović
Debates about AI consciousness are polarized between claims that advanced systems are becoming conscious and dismissals that they are merely statistical machines. This paper argues that both positions miss the deeper philosophical significance of generative AI. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard's theory of simulation and simulacra, the central event of artificial intelligence is not machine consciousness but the operationalization of the signs of consciousness independent of subjective experience. Large language models generate empathy, reflection, self-reference, hesitation, and apparent understanding without demonstrated phenomenology.