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#152 Why AI Will Never Be Conscious episode artwork

Apr 20, 2026 1 hr 41 min

#152 Why AI Will Never Be Conscious

from Within Reason Hosted by Alex J O'Connor

For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack: ⁠https://www.alexoconnor.com⁠. Anil Seth is a British neuroscientist and professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. A proponent of materialist explanations of consciousness, he is currently amongst the most cited scholars on the topics of neuroscience and cognitive science globally. Read Anil's essay, ⁠"The Mythology of Conscious AI"⁠. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) The Difference Between Intelligence and Consciousness (03:55) What’s Stopping the Replication of Consciousness in AI? (17:01) Can You Separate What the Brain Is From What It Does? (22:20) Is Conscious Experience Just Predictions From the Brain? (26:48) Why Do We Project Consciousness Onto LLMs? (37:27) Can Consciousness Exist Without a Body? (42:25) Why We Liken the Brain to a Computer (52:11) Is There An Evolutionary Reason For Consciousness? (56:29) Studying Unconscious Perception? (1:01:21) Is Consciousness Unified? Split-Brain Patients (1:15:10) Attention and Consciousness (1:19:04) What Would a Conscious Chatbot Even Look Like? (1:25:13) Consciousness as a Controlled Hallucination (1:34:19) Do Scientists Actually Study “Consciousness” At All? CONNECT My Website: ⁠https://www.alexoconnor.com⁠ SOCIAL LINKS Twitter: ⁠http://www.twitter.com/cosmicskeptic⁠ Facebook: ⁠http://www.facebook.com/cosmicskeptic⁠ Instagram: ⁠http://www.instagram.com/cosmicskeptic⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@cosmicskeptic⁠ CONTACT Business email: [email protected] Brand enquiries: [email protected]

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