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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

An interview of me on the Micah Zarin podcast, on AI consciousness, human weirdness, moral motivation, the value of philosophy, the value of diversity, and more. youtube.com/watch?v=tzjGGBB9YIM&feature=youtu.be

youtube.com

Why Is Being Human So Weird? | Eric Schwitzgebel

YouTube video by Micah Zarin

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

arguments against their consciousness. Especially appealing will be arguments that characterize consciousness specifically as a biological phenomenon, one that can't occur in ordinary, non-biological computer systems. In this post, I describe the structure of such arguments and their 2/3

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Appeal of (Semi-?) Biological Naturalism [link in thread] Biological naturalism about consciousness will, I predict, soon be hot. As AI systems start to look more and more like conscious or sentient entities, at least superficially, doubters will be increasingly drawn to 1/3

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Should We Build AI Guardian Angels? [link to post in thread] Answer: no (in response to @henryshevlin.bsky.social), in part because each generation should nurture the next, not the other way around.

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

New interview of me on possible AI consciousness, including the "Leapfrog Hypothesis", according to which the first conscious AIs will have sophisticated consciousness rather than simple "frog-like" experiences: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcWw...

youtube.com

The First Conscious AI Won't Be Like a Frog — It'll Be Like Us | Prof. Eric Schwitzgebel

YouTube video by Suma Gowda

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Chapter Zero of my new book in draft, Humanlike: A Defense of AI Rights (comments warmly welcomed!), here: schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/09/huma...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

Humanlike: A Defense of AI Rights -- Chapter Zero

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Vegetarianism is one of the central cases in the paper, due to the objection you've just articulated. My response is similar to that of @justthewinddrake.bsky.social

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

even when their arguments are beautiful on the page. faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/Sc... 5/5

faculty.ucr.edu

Walking the Walk, by Eric Schwitzgebel

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

understand without living by it: A meat-eating professor who recommends vegetarianism will generally have only a thin grasp of the way of life they recommend. These limitations give us reason to discount the understanding of ethicists who don’t attempt to live by their principles, 4/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For broad principles that can be lived by, everyday choices are generally the best source of such examples. Paragraph-length thought experiments are impoverished in comparison. Second, even a principle with fairly specific practical content, such as “don’t eat meat”, is difficult to fully 3/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

have a deficient understanding of what they recommend, for two reasons. First, abstract mottos like “act on the maxim you can will to be a universal law”, “maximize good consequences”, or “be generous” lack specific practical content without an array of concrete examples to flesh them out. 2/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

New paper in draft! I've been working on this one since 2018, never satisfied, redrafting over and over. I'm sure it still needs considerable work, but I'm finally ready to circulate it. Walking the Walk Ethicists who advocate moral principles without trying to live by them will generally 1/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

If the world is morally ordered, the virtuous thrive and the wicked suffer. Today's post explores some versions of this view and what might explain, undermine, or reverse a correlation between virtue and thriving: schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/09/type...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

Types and Conditions of Moral Order

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I've posted a 3000-word summary of the main ideas of my 2024 book *The Weirdness of the World* (part of a symposium forthcoming at JCS). Celebrate National Cherry Popsicle Day by learning the main ideas of *Weirdness* in a 10-minute read: schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/08/summ...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

Summary of <i>The Weirdness of the World</i>

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

3/4 correction: ... Might Learn from SF Aug 30: Beam Me Up...

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I hope to see a few of you there. IM if you'd like to meet up. 4/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Ethical AI? Aug 29: The Laws of Robotics and Other Ways AI Might Learn from Aug 30: Beam Me Up, Scotty! How Close Are We to Teleportation? Larry Niven (!) will be one of the other panelists on teleportation. Academic poster session Sunday evening, mine on AI and consciousness. 3/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

ericlinuskaplan.substack.com/p/kapknap-an... If you don't know Eric, he's a Berkeley Philosophy PhD who has been a screenwriter for Futurama, Big Bang Theory, David Letterman, and more. I'll also be on four other panels: Aug 27: Ethics of Space Research and Exploration Aug 29: What Is 2/4

ericlinuskaplan.substack.com

Kapknap Animation - Six Days to the Con!

Love Me Cat Wants to Trap Me in a Song Labyrinth! And -- we announce a talk on “Alien and Robot Consciousness” with Eric Schwitzgebel!

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I'll be at WorldCon (the world's largest science fiction convention) in Anaheim next Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thursday I'll be doing a panel with @ericlinuskaplan.bsky.social on robot and alien consciousness. Here's his announcement, including of his new animated series: 1/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Methodological details, comments, and full list of all 61 ranked magazines here: schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/08/top-... 5/5

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

Top Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazines 2026

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

14. Fireside (20.5) (ceased 2022) 15. The Dark (18) 16. @fantasymagazine.bsky.social (16.5) (off and on during the period) 17. @morningtransport.bsky.social (14.5) (started 2022) 18. Interzone (13.5) 19. @diabolicalplots.com (12.5) 20. @thedeadlands.com (12) (started 2021) 4/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

-- basically a statistical tie. Top 20: 1. @reactorsff.bsky.social / Tor.com (193 points) 2. @clarkesworldmagazine.com (192.5) 3. @uncannymagazine.bsky.social (188) 4. @lightspeedmagazine.com (128) 5. @asimovssf.bsky.social (101) 6. Fantasy & Science Fiction (95.5) 2/5

tor.com

Homepage - Reactor

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I've released my 12th annual ranking of the prestige of science fiction and fantasy magazines, based on awards and best-of selections. This year, @reactorsff.bsky.social edges out @clarkesworldmagazine.com for the top spot by half a point, with @uncannymagazine.bsky.social very close behind 1/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

play of empty mimicry. Genuine conscious experience might require something no AI system could possess for the foreseeable future – intricate biological processes, for example, that silicon chips could never replicate. The thesis of this Element is that we don't know. Science lags, while 4/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

architectures many consciousness scientists associate with conscious systems. Their outward behavior, especially their linguistic behavior, grows ever more humanlike. Alternatively, claims of imminent AI consciousness might be profoundly mistaken. Their seeming humanlikeness might be a shadow 3/5

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

thirty years – be as richly and meaningfully conscious as ordinary humans, or even more so, capable of genuine feeling, real self-knowledge, and a wide range of sensory, emotional, and cognitive experiences. In some arguably important respects, AI architectures are beginning to resemble the 2/4

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

AI and Consciousness, hot off the press at Cambridge University Press and free online until Aug 26! Summary: Our most advanced AI systems might soon – within the next five to 1/4 www.cambridge.org/core/element...

cambridge.org

AI and Consciousness

Cambridge Core - Philosophy of Science - AI and Consciousness

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

arguments that can be proven fallacious. schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/08/obfu... 3/3

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

(2) disempowers critics by allowing criticisms to be called misinterpretation, (3) exerts fascination on the reader who enjoys the challenge of puzzling out the meaning. It’s braver and more egalitarian to make plain claims that can be proven wrong supported by plain 2/3

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Obfuscatory Philosophy as Intellectual Authoritarianism and Cowardice [link in thread] For philosophers who can convince readers to take them seriously, obfuscation yields three illegitimate benefits: (1) it intimidates the reader, donning a mantle of intellectual authority, 1/3

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The Summer Illusion (repost) I’ll get all that work at home done AND all that research AND I’ll have plenty of time to relax. Of course of course! schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

The Summer Illusion (repost)

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

That does seem like a reasonable way of doing things, and I’m sure systems sometimes work in broadly this way. All the more reason to not assume that (super)intelligence requires unified consistency and stability over time.

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The Cognitive Advantages of Being of Two Minds, or Twelve, or Twelve Hundred Superintelligent AI might be a swirl of many contradictory, competing processes rather than hyper-consistent and hyper-rational schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

The Cognitive Advantages of Being of Two Minds, or Twelve, or Twelve Hundred

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Conscious entities in different star systems might employ different carbon-based biochemistries, @jpober.bsky.social and I modestly argue in a recent draft paper. A few iterations through the popular press and the headline is now "Scientists Suggest Advanced Aliens May Exist Without Physical Bodies"

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

AI Slop and Evidence about Evidence: Why Philosophy Journals Should Reject AI-Written Prose Human experts are better than LLMs at nuanced word choice and actively generated prose reflects these expert sensitivities better than passively approved prose. schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/07/ai-s...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

AI Slop and Evidence about Evidence: Why Philosophy Journals Should Reject AI-Written Prose

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

New book in draft! This is a companion to my forthcoming AI & Consciousness, exploring the ethical consequences of AI systems with humanlike or debatably humanlike consciousness. faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/Sc...

Title page: Humanlike: A Defense of AI Rights, by Eric Schwitzgebel

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Scientists also radically disagree. For one example, see Hakwan Lau's 2025 piece suggesting that we're nowhere near being able to resolve the methodological issues.

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Nomination deadline extended for the APA AI essay prizes: two $10K awards! We want nominations of the best articles written in the past five years. Nominate some essays you love about AI issues and make our task hard! www.apaonline.org/page/ai2050

apaonline.org

AI2050 Prizes - American Philosophical Association

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Bare Functionalism Versus Digital Computational Functionalism Functionalism about consciousness is not necessarily committed to the claim that digital computers can achieve consciousness simply by instantiating the right programs. Details here: schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/07/bare...

schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com

Bare Functionalism Versus Digital Computational Functionalism

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

us to justify default assumptions about consciousness while remaining to a substantial extent neutral about specific metaphysical and scientific theories. Open access link: journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

grounding speculations about alien and robot consciousness in metaphysical or scientific theories about the physical or functional bases of consciousness, our approach appeals directly to the epistemic principles of Copernican mediocrity and inference to the best explanation. This permits 5/6

journals.publishing.umich.edu

Making sure you're not a bot!

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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

and Mimicry Arguments, jointly defeat an otherwise potentially attractive parity principle, according to which we should apply the same types of behavioral or cognitive tests to aliens and robots, attributing or denying consciousness similarly tothe extent they perform similarly. Instead of 4/6

journals.publishing.umich.edu

Making sure you're not a bot!

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