In the Age of AI: A New Paradigm, A New Consciousness
Nanoethics July 2, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s11569-025-00473-0 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractUnderstanding consciousness, whether in humans or machines, depends on the paradigm through which it is viewed. Human superiority in intelligence and consciousness is challenged. Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shifts show science moves between frameworks without reaching absolute knowledge. Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle highlights how viewpoint affects understanding, paralleling debates between classical and quantum models. The controversy over Information Integration Theory (IIT) is reviewed: criticized as poor science but defended as philosophical theory, a distinction that matters. Panpsychism is considered as a model for how consciousness could emerge from advancing machine thinking on the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI) and technological singularity.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Philosophy of technology Philosophy of science Consciousness Philosophy of biology Epistemology |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Argues that understanding consciousness requires paradigm lenses and that panpsychism offers a model for consciousness emerging from machine thinking toward AGI. |
Abstract
Abstract In this Discussion Note I argue that to understand the problem of consciousness, both as it applies to humans and may apply to machines, is a matter of paradigm lenses. I challenge the positing of human superiority with regard to intelligence and consciousness. I begin by reviewing Thomas Kuhn’s notion of paradigm shifts, including what he regarded as the limitations of scientific progress, which he saw as in a state of long-term flux, with no absolute knowledge possible as long as science moved from paradigm to paradigm. I also consider Werner Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle with respect to viewpoint, and I recall the debate over classical and quantum models of understanding and how such a discussion reflects on the debate over consciousness. I review the recent controversy over Information Integration Theory (IIT), criticized as a poor scientific theory, but defended as philosophical theory, and why this distinction is important. I close by considering panpsychism as a model for understanding emergence and how consciousness could emerge from the continuous progress of machine thinking on the way to artificial general intelligence (AGI), as understood as technological singularity.