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Anil Seth

@anilseth.bsky.social
9.8K followers 139 following 613 posts

Neuroscientist: consciousness, perception, and Dreamachines. Author of Being You - A New Science of Consciousness.

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I'm honoured that #BeingYou features in the Sunday Guardian's list of "10 mind-blowing books about time, space, consciousness, & the human mind" sundayguardianlive.com/trending/10-mind-blowing-books-about-time-space-consciousness-the-human-mind-293421/amp/
sundayguardianlive.com
10 Mind-Blowing Books About Time, Space, Consciousness & The Human Mind
10 mind-blowing books about time, space, consciousness and the human mind, from Stephen Hawking and Carlo Rovelli to Anil Seth and Daniel Kahneman.
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koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Will, or can AI become conscious? In this TED talk, @anilseth.bsky.social argues that AI, as we know it now, won’t and can’t: buff.ly/TsnTCJw
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
People of Milan - don't miss this special screening of CONSCIOUS (www.theconsciousfilm.com) at the Fondazione Prada, October 29th. Suki Chan - the creative force behind the film - will be there to talk it, with Pr. Daniela Perani. Details here: www.fondazioneprada.org/project/huma...
theconsciousfilm.com
About – CONSCIOUS
Suki Chan's CONSCIOUS - Learn about the feature film
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Can an AI feel pain? It can at least act as if it does". Coverage in @science.org by Tom Howarth of the recent Cameron Berg Leonard Dung & Valen Tagliabue study on functional pain vectors in LLMs, including some comments by me. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Can an AI feel pain? It can at least act like it does
Study reignites debate over what, if anything, machines can feel
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Harry Farmer @psychfarmer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This collection is a great resource for those wanting to make the case against the assignment of consciousness to AI systems
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Our CIFAR Brain Mind & Consciousness program is accepting Global Scholar applications for 2027. A wonderful opportunity for ECRs to develop & lead high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research, expand their networks and receive leadership training. Deadline Nov 4th. cifar.ca/next-generat...
cifar.ca
CIFAR Global Scholars Program - CIFAR
Support and training for the research leaders of tomorrow.
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Noema Magazine @noemamag.com · 19/09/2026
“When we identify conscious experience with seemingly human qualities like intelligence & language, we become more likely to see consciousness where it doesn’t exist, & to miss seeing it where it does.” — @anilseth.bsky.social, winner of the Berggruen Institute Essay Prize Competition
noemamag.com
The Mythology Of Conscious AI | NOEMA
Why consciousness is more likely a property of life than of computation and why creating conscious, or even conscious-seeming AI, is a bad idea.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
1/ Conscious AI and Biological Naturalism. A long time in the making, but the full collection is *out now* in Behavioural and Brain Sciences I deeply thank all my many commentators for their wise, broad, and deep opinions on this critical topic.I also thank them for their saintly patience. 🙏🏽
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Wow this has been an exhausting week. After lots of talking with the media, I'm really feeling how much effort it takes to push through and keep the focus on the real harms when everyone is running around shouting "The skynet is falling!" or, reporter version, "Experts say the skynet is falling!" >>
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Nita Farahany @nitafarahany.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just out in Nature an extraordinary paper by @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and his team who genetically altered mice & transferred organoids derived from human neural cells into the cortex. @anilseth.bsky.social and I explore the ethical implications in a forthcoming commentary.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
1/6 An extraordinary @nature.com paper has just landed from the lab of @sergiuppasca.bsky.social. They found a way to create "xenocortical mice" which have ~92% of their cortex occupied by a cortical organoid derived from human stem cells.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
George Butler spoke immediately after me at this year's @ted.com conference. His talk was a moving account of how drawing in conflict zones can convey the emotions & stories that news alone cannot. I'm glad he followed me & not the other way: he brought the house down. www.ted.com/talks/george...
ted.com
News tells you what happened. Drawing shows you how it felt
What does a war look like when you sit still long enough to draw it? Reportage artist and TED Fellow George Butler sketches the people that the news passes by: a 99-year-old survivor of the Holodomor ...
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Yoshua Bengio @yoshuabengio.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In my latest op-ed for TIME, I discuss why the OpenAI Hugging Face cyber incident represents a turning point for AI safety.
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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I wrote down my thoughts about the last several weeks of AI hell. aiguide.substack.com/p/misleading...
aiguide.substack.com
Misleading Metaphors, Real Risks
What To Fear from AI Agents and How to Reclaim Our Human Agency
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The Dissenter @thedissenteryt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Does consciousness have causal power? Learn about it in my interview with Dr. Anil Seth (@anilseth.bsky.social) about his great book, Being You: A New Science of Consciousness. Full interview: youtu.be/5fqiGkg2RAw
youtu.be
#871 Anil Seth - Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
YouTube video by The Dissenter
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”. Blaise Pascal (probably).
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This review did so much to help Being You on its way, back in 2021. So I’ll take this chance to repost it now why not 🙏🏽👇🏽
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A good rule of thumb: If the press release (or stenographic news reporting masquerading as journalism) says that an "AI" did something, that's deliberate obfuscation. Software doesn't do anything of its own accord, but folks sure like to talk about it as if it does: >>
buttondown.com
How to talk about "AI" without adding to the anthropomorphization
Emily M. Bender and Nanna Inie In our op-ed for Tech Policy Press ("We Need to Talk About How We Talk About 'AI'"), we made the case against the...
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Roger Highfield @rogerhighfield.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Yes! Conscious AI is unlikely in digital computers because… … the brain is analogue news.mit.edu/2026/cogniti... & digital computers run on an impoverished set of numbers blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/the-problem-...
news.mit.edu
Cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations, says new theory
The brain's ability to generate quick, nimble volitional thought — and a unified awareness of thought and experience — arises from analog computations carried out by electrical waves, MIT neurosc...
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Great to see this new piece in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social by the @mesec-community.bsky.social. I had the privilege of being the academic chair of one their meetings earlier this year and it was a wonderfully uplifting experience. MESEC is a great model for community-organised science. 👇
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Nearly 500k views in 3 days! Crazy ... all credit to After Skool
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Are you a high-achieving early career researcher? Apply to be a Global Scholar in our CIFAR Brain, Mind, and Consciousness Program. CAD 100k unrestricted research support over 2 years, & access to an incredible network of peers and colleagues. cifar.ca/next-generat... (pls share)
cifar.ca
CIFAR Global Scholars Program - CIFAR
Support and training for the research leaders of tomorrow.
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European Research Council (ERC) @erc.europa.eu · 03/09/2026
📣 Good news! 📣 Results of the ERC 2026 Starting Grant call are out! Funding worth a total of €705 million will go to 421 early-career researchers across Europe. Discover who, what and where 👉 link.europa.eu/9M3MmN 🧪 #ERCStG #FrontierResearch #HorizonEurope 🇪🇺 @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Just copy & share everywhere please. Absolutely thumping.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I'm incredibly grateful to Mark Wooding "AfterSkool" for taking the time, on his own initiative, to create this rather wonderful animated version of my 2017 TED talk on consciousness & controlled hallucinations. It's well worth a look IMO 🙏🏽 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBYm...
youtube.com
How your Brain Hallucinates your Conscious Reality - Anil Seth
YouTube video by After Skool
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Neil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Important reminder from @garymarcus.bsky.social @anilseth.bsky.social & friends on the dangers of anthropomorphism in relation to AI/tech. Some anthropomorphic deception is inadvertent. Some is intentional. Both are dangerous.
garymarcus.substack.com
Dwarkesh Patels’s wildly popular but dangerously misleading account of the OpenAI Hugging Face incident
When “plain English” isn’t a good thing.
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Ever wonder what "information" really means? Here's our new paper, led by @frosas.bsky.social, that lays out the multiple ways the term is used in natural science. rdcu.be/fCDGv
A chart describing four faces of information: Engineering, Statistical, Thermodynamic, and Ontological.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Psychedelics align brain activity with context - new in @nature.com from Devon Stoliker, @adeelrazi.bsky.social, & many others (including me, very minorly). Full pdf #openaccess www.nature.com/articles/s41... - commentary by Stefan Borgward and Mihai Avram here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
1/2 I am leaving hospital after a week, during which the amazing @england.nhs.uk repaired a valve in my heart. Open heart surgery is no small thing, and general anaesthesia still makes no sense at all. But all went well. I am so grateful to my surgeon, Francis Wells, and his brilliant team.
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Konrad Kording @kordinglab.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Hiring for research scientists in expansion chemistry and optical physiology at mindspan.org with @eboyden3.bsky.social, Yongxin Zhao, Xue Han. We will build tools to analyze the human brain. We are into compiling arxiv.org/abs/2603.25713. We are into cutting edge technology.
mindspan.org
Mindspan Institute
A non-profit creating and applying tools to characterize the molecules and wiring of the human brain, as well as to interpret how they contribute to brain functions and dysfunctions, openly sharing to...
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Editors of Neuroscience of Consciousness @nconsc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
It’s “back to school” time, which, of course, means we’re all sitting at our desks with an empty inbox and plenty of time to spare! 😉 So why not discover (or rediscover) the articles published in #NCONSC over the past couple of months? Many thanks to all our authors and reviewers! 🧠📚 👇
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Jarek Pachocki OMI @jarekpach.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
What if reality isn’t simply something we see - but something our brains continually create? 🤯 Anil Seth’s “Being You” explores consciousness, identity and the “controlled hallucination” behind everyday experience. A fascinating... #SummerReading📚 @anilseth.bsky.social
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
A year ago today we said final goodbyes to my mother. She lived a full life. Time passes so very quickly. Love you, mum. Ann Seth obituary www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Ann Seth obituary
Other lives: Teacher, artist and landscape photographer who documented the countryside of Oxfordshire
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
🙏🏽
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
"Sensorimotor Coupling Modulates Perceived Time and Agency Across Visual Perspectives" - out now #openaccess in @collabracialjust.bsky.social - led by Shu Imaizumi, w/ Keisuke Suzuki @ksks.bsky.social, Giuseppe Lai, and me online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"Loops all the way up - recurrency as an implementation-first primitive for consciousness." New in Phys Life Rev by @zefanzheng.bsky.social @robertchisciure.bsky.social & others .... well worth a read, & open for peer commentary www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 14/08/2026
Today's Lawfare Daily is a @scalinglaws.bsky.social ep where @anilseth.bsky.social joined @kevintfrazier.bsky.social to examine whether artificial intelligence could ever be conscious and what policymakers should do amid profound uncertainty. youtu.be/7VQbcaAoo60
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Many congratulations @ronyhirsch.bsky.social 🎉 Its been wonderful to welcome you to Sussex, and I'm thrilled by the opportunity to work with you 🙏
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Dealing with #clearing? Consider coming to @sussex.ac.uk - its a fantastic place to study, to work, and to live (especially on a day like today). I first came here for an MSc many years ago & it immediately felt like home. www.sussex.ac.uk/clearing/
sussex.ac.uk
Clearing at Sussex : University of Sussex
If you don't get a place on your chosen university course, you can apply for an undergraduate course at the University of Sussex through UCAS Clearing by logging into UCAS and calling our Clearing te...
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
BBC World at One today is all about "Preparing for our AI future". In it, I explain why AI is vanishingly unlikely to be conscious, and why the anthropomorphic language we use (e.g., "going rogue") makes the challenge of alignment/control much harder than it already is. www.bbc.com/audio/play/m...
bbc.com
BBC Audio | The World This Weekend | Preparing for the future of increasingly intelligent AI?
As AI models jump the guardrails, how tough it is to legislate for the future of mankind?
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Nick Cave and Kylie duetting in Brighton last night. What a great show (also - Flaming Lips!)
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
'Prospects and pitfalls for conscious AI' - I'm excited to be giving a keynote lecture for #AGI2026 in an hour (12:15 PT, 27 July). Sadly I can't be in San Francisco in person. agi-conference.org/schedule
agi-conference.org
The AGI-26 Conference
The official website of the 19th annual conference on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) organized by the AGI Society.
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Today I'm remembering my wonderful mother, Ann Seth, who left us exactly one year ago. Time passes so quickly, but my memory of her is as vivid as ever. Love you, Mum. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Ann Seth obituary
Other lives: Teacher, artist and landscape photographer who documented the countryside of Oxfordshire
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
FWIW @emilymbender.bsky.social the guardian published my own skeptical take on the issue a couple of days earlier www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts | Anil Seth
Despite Anthropic’s claims, Claude is no more likely to achieve sentience than a simulation of a weather system is likely to generate a real hurricane, says Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and compu...
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Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Now officially published: our paper "Sensory horizons and the functions of conscious vision" w/ @smfleming.bsky.social, with the commentaries, and our response: Article: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Commentaries: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Response: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Sensory horizons and the functions of conscious vision | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Sensory horizons and the functions of conscious vision - Volume 49
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Marcelo Soares @msoares.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
O @anilseth.bsky.social publicou um belo artigo no Guardian sobre o hype da "consciência artificial". Pelas tantas, ele fala o óbvio: computadores são metáforas do cérebro. E foi aí que me caiu a ficha: achar que um gerador de lero-lero "pensa" é uma faceta do neoliteralismo, o algoz da metáfora.
theguardian.com
Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts | Anil Seth
Despite Anthropic’s claims, Claude is no more likely to achieve sentience than a simulation of a weather system is likely to generate a real hurricane, says Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and compu...
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
My take on global workspaces and J-spaces, and the possibility of consciousness in Claude www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts | Anil Seth
Despite Anthropic’s claims, Claude is no more likely to achieve sentience than a simulation of a weather system is likely to generate a real hurricane, says Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and compu...
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Ivor Middleton @iwasid.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
There's a great deal of guff written about AI and consciousness. This, from @anilseth.bsky.social , is the _only_ good writing I've seen on it. It also offers a definition of consciousness, another rarity in the wild, and I almost agree with it 😀
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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Philosophers out there - do consider submitting to the 4th annual conference of the The International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind - deadline July 31st, conference is 4-6 Nov online, via @niccolonegro.bsky.social philevents.org/event/show/1...
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