iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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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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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The book by Richard Cytowic ( @neuromandc.bsky.social ) arrived yesterday and I’ve just read the preface, which it gives some clear hints: it’s going to be an interesting read.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

if the universe is deterministic, when talking about free will the problem is: “where does the freedom come from?” if the universe is indeterministic the freedom comes for free and what's important is the control, the will of the organism. @wiringthebrain.bsky.social youtu.be/klj0ZnmPtu8?...

youtu.be

BI 175 Kevin Mitchell: Free Agents

YouTube video by Brain Inspired

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ANSA @mm-ansa-bot.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Bologna ricorda la strage, Mattarella: 'Strategia neofascista'. Me... www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cronaca/20…

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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 21/07/2026

The idea of ‘biological agency’ — that life devises its own goals and behaves accordingly — complicates our understanding of what it means to be alive. But does it serve a scientific purpose? Find out on this week’s episode of The Quanta Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

podcasts.apple.com

Is Life Just Different?

Podcast Episode · The Quanta Podcast · July 21 · 36m

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

"When we sell our minds too cheaply to our machines, we not only overestimate them, we underestimate ourselves."

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Free will = Libero Arbìtrio Referee = àrbitro If a referee takes a bad decision we shout “arbitro cornuto”: horned=cuckold/despicable referee Just adding an “i” it goes from the recent soccer misdeed (àrbitro cornuto – despicable referee) to a broader "arbìtrio cornuto": despicable decision maker 👏🏻

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

“the key point is that the actions can be governed by reasons and goals. The hare is genuinely trying to escape the fox; it doesn’t merely look that way” “recognizing agency might help us understand what makes life so different — not just humans, but life — that it is visible from outer space”

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Don't forget our Salon with Romain Brett discussing 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼... July 9. Open to all but you need to register (personal-free/academic zoom account is necessary) #neuroskyence

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I've developed a strong aversion to AI-generated slides in presentations. They look so ugly, and seem to discourage economy in how ideas are presented. Indeed, the problems are akin to those for AI text: the hard work of creation is bypassed, and it shows.

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🌷🧿 khthoniaa 🧿🌷 @khthoniaa.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Did you know that MIT offers an abundance of online courses for free? Each course includes a course syllabus, video lectures, free online textbooks, and more. Plus, the courses range from undergraduate to advanced graduate levels across all of MIT's departments, so there's something for everyone!

ocw.mit.edu

MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials

MIT OpenCourseWare is a web based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

"What is life really about? What makes you unique? it is your living organization, your ability to literally construct yourself the way you decide to. At least to some degree, you are autonomous — in charge of your life!" The Cyborg Myth by Johannes Jaeger open.substack.com/pub/lovephil... /

open.substack.com

The Cyborg Myth

Text by Johannes Jaeger Artwork by Marcus Neustetter

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Spent two days in Rome (business trip). Got a lunch break with a twist. I never get tired of these views.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

The genome isn’t static: it’s living. (K. Adelman) “It acts on itself, mindful of its own history, heedful of messages from inside and outside the cell. A dynamic open informational system which uses its information contextually, with combinatorial & promiscuous logic”. @philipcball.bsky.social

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Deferring to self-regulation of AI [...] is more an abdication of responsibility than governance. @pbenanti.bsky.social

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Kristina Šekrst @epiphenomenal.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

We need this at conference venues. #philosophy #philtwit #philsky

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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Nice quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "For the simplicity that lies on this side of complexity, I would not give a fig, but for the simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity, I would give my life." #systemsthinking

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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

A really interesting passage from The Dialectical Biologist by Levins and Lewiston:

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/04/2026

President Trump has repeatedly threatened to destroy infrastructure that makes up the foundations of civilian life in Iran — attacks that in most cases would be considered war crimes. He said on Wednesday that the U.S. would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...

President Trump speaks at a lectern with an American flag in the background. A headline reads: "Trump Repeatedly Threatens to Commit War Crimes in Iran." Photo by Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

"We should not make the same mistake [endowing AI with consciousness], whether in reality, or even in appearance." ( @anilseth.bsky.social ) "Some little idiot is bound to press the ignite button just to see what happens." (N. Bostrom, Superintelligence) Can’t help but put these quotes together 😒

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Alistair Barrie @alistairbarrie.com · 06/03/2026

Pretty difficult to refute a single thing in this perfect assessment of where the f**k we are, from @iandunt.bsky.social:

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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Exhorting the citizenry of an authoritarian regime to rise up against their despotic rulers, are we? 🤔

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MS POIROT @mspoirot.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Bill Bramhall cartoon.

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Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 18/02/2026

Analysis shows that the world is moving closer to China, as Trump’s isolationism rears its head at the United Nations.

Headline card with text at the top that reads: "The number of US-aligned countries in the UN has crashed under Trump". Two separate cluster of circles below show that during Obama and Biden years 46 countries were aligned with the US compared to 7 during Trump years.

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Matthias Michel @matthiasmichel.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Next session of the MIT Consciousness Club this Thursday, 12pm-1:30pm. Marco Tamietto will talk about his work on blindsight. More details here: sites.google.com/view/mit-con...

sites.google.com

MIT Consciousness Club

The MIT Consciousness Club aims to foster interdisciplinary research on consciousness at MIT and in the broader Boston area by organizing a monthly event featuring an expert talk on consciousness foll...

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Jakob Hohwy @hohwy.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

"The Self-Evidencing Agent" - my new book - is out now with @mitpress.bsky.social Can be purchased, or just download the whole thing for free, via the 'Open Access' option. I'm grateful to @anilseth.bsky.social and Karl Friston for the generous endorsements. mitpress.mit.edu/978026255389...

mitpress.mit.edu

The Self-Evidencing Agent

What is it to be a human individual, an agent? According to Jakob Hohwy, it is to “self-evidence,” to actively seek out sensory evidence for one&...

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 26/01/2026

"Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus," Jonathan Rauch argues. "'Fascist' best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse." theatln.tc/xr56xSUj

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

We are seeing incredible acts of solidarity today in Minnesota and across the country. The next days and months and years will require this from us — and demand our courage. Be prepared.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

“Perhaps it is life, rather than information processing, that breathes fire into the equations of experience.” “Time is short, but collectively we can still decide which kinds of AI we really want and which we really don’t.” The Mythology Of Conscious AI By @anilseth.bsky.social

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The Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Crackdown. My @smh @theage cartoon.

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Bethankit Hums @tangibullah.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Please support Michael de Adder, who does great work:

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Ann Telnaes @anntelnaes.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

The White House wastes no time gaslighting the American people anntelnaes.substack.com/p/ice-shoots...

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Funny thing though: Musk and the other tech lords are still saying such things, and the media credulity has not lessened one whit. And they are richer than ever.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

prompting an LLM with “Who was the 1st person to walk on the Moon?”, we're not reasoning about Moon landing. In reality, we are asking: given the statistical distribution of words in its training data, what is the most likely continuation of the prompt “The first person to walk on the Moon was...”?

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Luciano Floridi @floridi.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

New article with Jessica Morley, Claudio Novelli, and David Watson on "What Kind of Reasoning (if any) is an LLM actually doing? On the Stochastic Nature and Abductive Appearance of Large Language Models" OA: papers.ssrn.com/sol3...

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Anna Ciaunica PhD @annaciaunica.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Do you need your toes to think? YESS! Happy to see this one out 😎! From your humble toes to your noble neurons, you need all your cells to solve your most important problem : How to stay alive 😎😅

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 25/11/2025

and all of the arguments we made 5 yrs ago in this paper about why the idea of robot rights relies on faulty assumptions about the nature of human cognition and intelligence still hold Robot Rights?: Let's Talk about Human Welfare Instead dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

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Nature @nature.com · 08/11/2025

By studying the process through which a soil bacterium naturally produces a well-known drug, scientists have discovered a powerful antibiotic that could help to fight drug-resistant infections go.nature.com/4nLbCoC

go.nature.com

Powerful new antibiotic that can kill superbugs discovered in soil bacteria

Nature - Surprise discovery could pave the way for new treatments against drug-resistant infections.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

When autumn cultivates some doubts, results flourish immediately.

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Umberto Tilomelli @tilo67.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

humans and technologies are co-constitutive […] Technologies are imbued with human subjectivity and deployed by creative subjects. […] People may use technologies in innovative and creative ways […] Affordance: objects afford but do not determine. How Artifacts Afford, Jenny L. Davis

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Outside of the US, we're not very confused about this either.

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