The feasibility of artificial consciousness through the lens of neuroscience.
Jaan Aru, Matthew E Larkum, James M Shine
Trends in Neurosciences December 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.09.009 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLarge language models are unlikely to become conscious because they lack three key features of biological consciousness. First, they do not receive the embodied, real-world sensory information that grounds human experience. Second, their architectures miss essential neural structures of the mammalian thalamocortical system linked to awareness. Third, the evolutionary and developmental processes that produced conscious living organisms—rooted in survival-driven action and multi-level cellular processes—have no counterpart in current artificial systems.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Agency Artificial intelligence Generative ai Large language models Machine learning |
| Key finding | Argues that claims of LLMs becoming conscious are unsupported because they lack embodied sensory input, key neural features, and evolutionary-developmental trajectories linked to consciousness in living organisms. |
Abstract
Interactions with large language models (LLMs) have led to the suggestion that these models may soon be conscious. From the perspective of neuroscience, this position is difficult to defend. For one, the inputs to LLMs lack the embodied, embedded information content characteristic of our sensory contact with the world around us. Secondly, the architectures of present-day artificial intelligence algorithms are missing key features of the thalamocortical system that have been linked to conscious awareness in mammals. Finally, the evolutionary and developmental trajectories that led to the emergence of living conscious organisms arguably have no parallels in artificial systems as envisioned today. The existence of living organisms depends on their actions and their survival is intricately linked to multi-level cellular, inter-cellular, and organismal processes culminating in agency and consciousness.