Life is inherently computational, and consciousness probably is too – A commentary on: Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2026 Blake Richards, Blaise Agüera Y Arcas
Abstract We agree with Seth that consciousness is grounded in processes related to life, namely prediction, homeostasis, and autopoiesis. However, we believe he is wrong to frame these processes as non-computational. In fact, prediction, homeostasis, and autopoiesis are inherently computational, as shown by von Neumann’s Universal Constructor theory of general computation. Given this, we...