iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I wish. But unfortunately they don’t support open access for these collections. It is a shame. I can ask again.

Reposted by Anil Seth

Transactions on Machine Learning Research @tmlrorg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

TMLR has faced a deluge of submissions, necessitating stricter desk rejection policies due to limited reviewer capacity Co-EiC Nihar Shah reached out to authors of 10 papers slated for desk reject. Could they answer questions about their *own* submission? medium.com/@TmlrOrg/ask...

medium.com

Asking Authors About Their Own Papers

By Nihar B. Shah

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Thanks @carlifine.bsky.social - that’s very kind - and it’s great to work with you too :)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Thank you Aaron - that really means a lot. And thank you for persevering with it. You're right that it's not an easy read, but I'm glad that for you at least it was worthwhile. I'm also extremely grateful to all the (many!) commentary authors 🙏

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Im sorry you find it weak. If you want more specifics, I would direct you this paper, with its accompanying commentaries and response. There’s a lot more than can be summarised on social media. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core

Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism - Volume 49

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It is descriptive (not in itself testable, but that's OK given our current understanding); it is useful in pointing to the explanandum in a way that doesn't add unnecessary conditions; it adds considerably to our understanding (remember is 50+ years old), and it definitely more than babble.

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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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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Thanks Adam - much appreciated and I agree. And its not just me. Another resource, published just a few days ago and several years in the making, is this Behavioral & Brain Science collection which includes 50 commentaries from other experts on my position (& my response). t.co/QNZ1RVBWP9

cambridge.org

Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core

Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism - Volume 49

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Yeah I did express my reservations about this to Science when I spoke to them about this

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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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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

No idea. I’ve been struggling for days to get a shareable version - to the extent that CUP allows it. But they also do seem to having problems with their systems. I am sorry.

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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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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Damn, I’m sorry to hear that @johanneskleiner.bsky.social - fingers crossed they can fix it soon.

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Reposted by Anil Seth

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 · 18/09/2026

Haha that’s good to know! Turns out there were plenty of people willing to disagree (in different ways, and with different things)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I looked back at your commentary (its been a while). I think I was drawn to the metacognitive interpretation bcoz you talk about a subject being 'tacked on' to my account of self, but IMO the basic feeling-of-being-alive (FOBA) is fundamental. I also think you can have this FOBA without a 1PP.

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thanks so much for your commentary 🙏🏽🙏🏽

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thanks again Matthias for being such a good sport in raising a strong defence of (potentially computational) functionalism. I doubt I will have persuaded you, but I hope the back-and-forth will be useful for others :-)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

That's a nice way to put the distinction, Carolyn, and its an important one. A continuous stream of world-related and self-related experience does *not* necessitate a higher-order metacognitive component to the phenomenology (which would be to experience being an experiencing self)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thank you Boki @mitsutadaki.bsky.social - and thank you also for adapting a figure from your brilliant paper with Jaan Aru (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) for use in my response - a great illustration of scale integration.

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thank you! And oh I definitely lost it at some point ... the question is, did I find it again?

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

13/ ... @felipedebrigard.bsky.social, Susan Schneider, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and last but not least, the inimitable @henryshevlin.bsky.social. Thank you one and all 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

12/ ... David Gottlieb, @jaredlcm.bsky.social, @matthiasmichel.bsky.social, Thomas Parr, John Broulidakis, Alex Gomez Marin, @johanneskleiner.bsky.social, Colin Allen, @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social, Shane Legg, @axc.bsky.social, @krysdolega.bsky.social (one more ....)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

11/ ...Christopher Whyte, @macshine.bsky.social, Matthew Larkum, Simon Bowes, @gualtiero.bsky.social, Wanja Wiese, Ted Chiang, George Blackburne, Alberto Liardi, Jeremy Skipper, Pedro Mediano, @frosas.bsky.social, @eschwitz.bsky.social, @chrisley.bsky.social, Rosa Cao, (nearly there ...)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

10/ ... @kathrynnave.eurosky.social, Tim Bayne, @tyrellturing.bsky.social, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social, Nick Lane, Tobias Schlicht, Alex Lerchner, Eva Jablonka, Simon Ginsburg, Zohar Bronfman, @metzinger.bsky.social, @mpshanahan.bsky.social, @birchlse.bsky.social, @jaanaru.bsky.social, keep going ...

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

9/ ... Manuel Blum, Mark Solms, @manuelbaltieri.bsky.social, @kanair.bsky.social, Morten Overgaard, Todd Feinberg, Jon Mallatt, @neddo.bsky.social, Ryan Rodriguez, @nitafarahany.bsky.social, @mjdramstead.bsky.social, @hohwy.bsky.social, Andy Clark, Michael Silberstein, (deep breath ...)

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

8/ I'm deeply grateful to all my many commentators: Karl Friston, Leonard Dung, @wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @cdj.bsky.social, Chris Fields, Jonathan Glazebrook, @smfleming.bsky.social, Nick Shea, Kathinka Evers, Michele Farisco, Luke Roelofs, Iain McGilchrist, @lenoreblum.bsky.social, ...

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

7/ FWIW there's a more accessible version of my view on the topic here in @noemamag.com noemamag.com/the-mytholog..., and also a short TED talk from earlier this year www.ted.com/talks/anil_s...

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

6/ And the set of 50 commentaries are collected here: cambridge.org/core/journal... Unfortunately these are not open access. I will try to remedy that, at least for the target & response

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

5/ My response "The stuff matters: consciousness, computation, and biology" was published just now, and is here: url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/xZqFCN05NT...

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

4/ The original target article, "Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism" is available here: cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

3/ My hope is that - whether you agree with me or not - having such a diversity of views collected in one place will serve a useful resource for discussions about consciousness and AI.

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

2/ I remain highly skeptical about the prospects for conscious AI (for silicon digital systems), but I've learned an enormous amount from the privilege of engaging with these commentaries. Hands down one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life.

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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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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

So glad it’s out. Will post a summary v soon.

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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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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Ha! Interesting. Thanks for tagging me.

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Anil Seth @anilseth.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

You’re not the first and you won’t be the last ;-)

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Reposted by Anil Seth

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

5/6 @nitafarahany.bsky.social and I will be addressing some of these questions in a forthcoming commentary - where we'll also offer an ethically-informed roadmap to guide this important research as it progresses. In this context, "pacing the frontier" really does make sense 😉

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