Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence? A Framework for Classifying Objections and Constraints
arXiv (Cornell University) November 20, 2025 Andres Campero, Derek Shiller, Jaan Aru et al.
A taxonomical framework classifies challenges to the possibility of consciousness in digital AI systems by their level of analysis (corresponding to Marr's levels) and their degree of force: degree 1 challenges computational functionalism without ruling out digital consciousness, degree 2 suggests improbability without impossibility, and degree 3 argues strict impossibility. The framework is applied to 14 prominent examples from the literature. The aim is to disambiguate between challenges to computational functionalism and challenges to digital consciousness, and between different ways of parsing such challenges, without taking a side in the debate.