Within Reason

#152 Why AI Will Never Be Conscious

April 20, 2026·1h 41m
Episode Description from the Publisher

Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code alexoconnor at https://huel.com/alexoconnor (Minimum $50 purchase).For early, ad-free access to videos, and to support the channel, subscribe to my Substack.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". - TIMESTAMPS00:00 - The Difference Between Intelligence and Consciousness03:55 - 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 Computer52:11 - Is There An Evolutionary Reason For Consciousness?56:29 - Studying Unconscious Perception?1:01:21 - Is Consciousness Unified? Split-Brain Patients1:15:10 - Attention and Consciousness1:19:04 - What Would a Conscious Chatbot Even Look Like?1:25:13 - Consciousness as a Controlled Hallucination1:34:19 - Do Scientists Actually Study “Consciousness” At All? - CONNECTMy Website: https://www.alexoconnor.comTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/cosmicskepticFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/cosmicskepticInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/cosmicskepticTikTok: @CosmicSkeptic - CONTACTBusiness email: contact@alexoconnor.comBrand enquiries: David@modernstoa.co

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