PhilSci-Archive

Pseudo-Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: a functional and governance framework for consciousness-like systems

PhilSci-Archive April 5, 2026 José Augusto de Lima Prestes preprint

This article develops "pseudo-consciousness" as an analytical category for advanced artificial intelligence systems whose organized performance of consciousness-associated functions reshapes how they are interpreted, trusted, and governed without thereby justifying a positive attribution of phenomenal subjectivity. The central claim is not that machine consciousness is impossible in principle,...