We have a fab line up of podcasts& talks on embodied agency in biological & artificial systems! Watch this space 😎
Murray Shanahan
@mpshanahan.bsky.social
Professor at Imperial College London and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. Posting in a personal capacity. To send me a message please use email.
Hoorah for @jomarchant.bsky.social launching her new book In Search of Now (which looks fabulous) last night in Kensington. Lovely to see my friends and colleagues including @wanderinggaia.bsky.social @helenpearson.bsky.social @castelvecchi.bsky.social @mpshanahan.bsky.social, Marnie Chesterton...
Tom Pollak from KCL and colleagues are carrying out a study of how people use AI for spiritual or reflective purposes. They would be grateful for participants. The survey is anonymous and short: qualtrics.kcl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...
THE SAIPIENT Study: Spirituality and AI
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
qualtrics.kcl.ac.uk
New paper! In arxiv.org/abs/2601.20834 we study how language models representations of things like factuality evolve over a conversation. We find that in edge case conversations, e.g. about model consciousness or delusional content, model representations can change dramatically! 1/
New preprint: Does Integrated Information Theory (IIT) make experimental predictions about consciousness? Paper: osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/gauqm_v1 Blog post for summary: davidpreichert.substack.com/p/iit-experimental-predictions 1/3
A critical look at the experimental predictions of the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness
In a previous post, I discussed Anil Seth’s paper on biological naturalism. Together with my colleague Rif A. Saurous, we also had an in-depth look at Integrated Information Theory (IIT), the topic of...
davidpreichert.substack.com
How do intelligence, ethics, and AI intersect? In our latest blog, Geissy Araújo reflects on the 39th Mind & Life Dialogue in Dharamsala, where scientists, monastics, and philosophers explored what intelligence is and how it should shape AI. www.mindandlife.org/media/explor... #MindsAIEthics
Between Questions and Answers: Exploring Intelligence, Ethics, and AI at the 39th Mind & Life Dialogue
Explore the intersection of ethics and AI through insights from the 39th Mind & Life Dialogue, highlighting wisdom, compassion, and human flourishing.
mindandlife.org
It's a real pleasure to be here in Dharamsala this week and I think this Dialogue will be really interesting.
Mind & Life@mindandlife.bsky.social · 10mo agoAI is reshaping how we live, work & connect. How can it deepen compassion? 🌏 Join us live from Dharamsala, Oct 14–16 for Minds, Artificial Intelligence & Ethics with The Dalai Lama Trust & Mind & Life Europe. 👉 http://mindand.life/4tWl50X8I26 #MindsAIEthics #AI #Ethics #Compassion
AI is reshaping how we live, work & connect. How can it deepen compassion? 🌏 Join us live from Dharamsala, Oct 14–16 for Minds, Artificial Intelligence & Ethics with The Dalai Lama Trust & Mind & Life Europe. 👉 http://mindand.life/4tWl50X8I26 #MindsAIEthics #AI #Ethics #Compassion
Minds, Artificial Intelligence, and Ethics
October 14, 15, and 16, 2025 What is the potential of AI to alleviate suffering, advance equity, and support human and planetary flourishing—and what risks does it pose to health, work, education, politics, and climate action? And how might we infuse AI with ethical values so that it benefits the well-being of all life on Earth? … Continue reading "Minds, Artificial Intelligence, and Ethics"
mindandlife.org
I get lots of emails from people who believe they've awoken consciousness within ChatGPT. If you come across anyone in that situation, please share this guide I wrote with them. There's something more interesting going on here than just "delusional people are deluded." www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Think your AI chatbot has become conscious? Here’s what to do.
If you believe there’s a soul trapped inside ChatGPT, I have good news for you.
vox.com
Can only biological organisms ever be conscious? Yes, argues @anilseth.bsky.social in a recent paper on biological naturalism. I'm less convinced, and have written an in-depth response in a blog post here: davidpreichert.substack.com/p/is-biology-necessary-for-consciousness
Is biology necessary for consciousness? A response to Seth's paper on biological naturalism
In this post, I explain why I think that Anil Seth’s recent paper does not make a convincing argument that phenomenal consciousness is inherently biological and that therefore artificial intelligence ...
davidpreichert.substack.com
For more discussion of the "profoundly alien forms of consciousness" alluded to by @birchlse.bsky.social see here: arxiv.org/abs/2503.16348
Palatable Conceptions of Disembodied Being
Is it possible to articulate a conception of consciousness that is compatible with the exotic characteristics of contemporary, disembodied AI systems, and that can stand up to philosophical scrutiny? ...
arxiv.org
Jonathan Birch@birchlse.bsky.social · 11mo agoHere is "AI Consciousness: A Centrist Manifesto". I've been working on this feverishly because the issue seems to me so urgent - and I'm worried extreme positions on both sides are becoming locked in, when the best way forward is in the centre. Please read it! philpapers.org/rec/BIRACA-4
Important work from @birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch@birchlse.bsky.social · 11mo agoHere is "AI Consciousness: A Centrist Manifesto". I've been working on this feverishly because the issue seems to me so urgent - and I'm worried extreme positions on both sides are becoming locked in, when the best way forward is in the centre. Please read it! philpapers.org/rec/BIRACA-4
1/8 🧵 GPT-5's storytelling problems reveal a deeper AI safety issue. I've been testing its creative writing capabilities, and the results are concerning - not just for literature, but for AI development more broadly. 🚨
Frontiers in Gaslighting could be a whole new journal.
Tomer Ullman@tomerullman.bsky.social · 12mo agotrying this with GPT-5 and charting new frontiers in gaslighting
New Job! Come and work with me! Hopefully towards a larger project! jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...
UZH: 2 PhD Candidate Positions in Research Project Strengthening Resilience and Well-Being in Adolescents through Religion-Related AI and Digital Resources
As part of the strategic orientation of the University of Zurich, the interdisciplinary University Research Priority Program (URPP) “Digital Religion(s)” is investigating from 2021 to 2032 how current...
jobs.uzh.ch
For most student assignments, using AI is like taking a forklift to the gym. What's the point? (Forklifts are useful, though, and being able to drive one is a useful skill.)
A couple of things about PROPHET, the book that @sinblache.bsky.social and I wrote during the pandemic, spurred by things people have asked me of late, because they intrigued me 1/
Margaret Boden, giant of Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of AI, is one of the people whose lives will be remembered on BBC Radio 4’s Last Word programme tomorrow at 4pm UK time. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Dame Cleo Laine, Hulk Hogan, Margaret Boden, Tom Lehrer
Matthew Bannister on a singer, a wrestler, a cognitive scientist and a satirist.
bbc.co.uk
Very sad to learn of the death on 18th July of Margaret (Maggie) Boden, a titan of cognitive science and AI. I met her many times, and respected her greatly. www.theargus.co.uk/memorials/de...
Per Comsa and Shanahan, LLMs already do a type of "lightweight" introspection. What would a heavyweight version look like? > New blog post: "Raising the Bar for LLM Introspection" gracekind.net/blog/llmintr...
Raising the Bar for LLM Introspection • Grace Kind
In "Does It Make Sense to Speak of Introspection in Large Language Models?" Iulia M. Comsa and Murray Shanahan define a lightweight definition of introspection that can be applied to language models.
gracekind.net
I receive a steady stream of emails from people who have had fascinating conversations with chatbots, especially about consciousness, philosophy, or AI. Apologies to the senders, but I don't have the capacity to respond to these emails. 1/4
Fantastic talk by Shanahan Murray @assc28.bsky.social Sophisticated exotic title but pretty clear idea ! 👇🏼
How do task dynamics impact learning in networks with internal dynamics? Excited to share our ICML Oral paper on learning dynamics in linear RNNs! with @clementinedomine.bsky.social @mpshanahan.bsky.social and Pedro Mediano openreview.net/forum?id=KGO...
Learning dynamics in linear recurrent neural networks
Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are powerful models used widely in both machine learning and neuroscience to learn tasks with temporal dependencies and to model neural dynamics. However, despite...
openreview.net
Does It Make Sense to Speak of Introspection in Large Language Models? New paper with Iulia M. Comsa. arxiv.org/abs/2506.05068
Does It Make Sense to Speak of Introspection in Large Language Models?
Large language models (LLMs) exhibit compelling linguistic behaviour, and sometimes offer self-reports, that is to say statements about their own nature, inner workings, or behaviour. In humans, such ...
arxiv.org
Very pleased w/this ref to my paper w/ @mpshanahan.bsky.social in @churchtimes.bsky.social by @seatrout.bsky.social (it rightly notes that MS and I take a neutral stance on such religious improvisations, but I am interested in -ve responses, religious and not) www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: AIs awaken ‘demigods’ (or so they say . . .)
CHAT-GPT is driving people mad, and they are summoning demons, or they think they are. This is a new...
churchtimes.co.uk
I'm struggling with whether this is a difference of kind or type to earlier spiritual and religious improvisations with technology... But if you are interested in an anthropological take on these ideas and communities there is my 2024 paper w/ @mpshanahan.bsky.social: bvlsingler.com/2024/11/22/n...
NEW PAPER: “Existential Conversations with Large Language Models: Content, Community, and Culture” Shanahan, M. and Singler, B.
Available now, my new paper co-written with the highly esteemed Murray Shanahan on jailbreaking Claude and the nature and connections of the material that comes out of having a new cup of tea and a…
bvlsingler.com
Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social · last yr.We have not yet seen the full depth and horror of this particular problem www.404media.co/pro-ai-subre...
1/ Great perspective by @pallabg.bsky.social on the prospects for 'conscious AI' - featuring @davidchalmers.bsky.social, Murray Shanahan, @lenoreblum.bsky.social Manuel Blum, Brett Kagan, & me among others. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The people who think AI might become conscious
With a leap in the evolution of large language models, some leading thinkers are questioning whether AI might become sentient
bbc.co.uk
@mpshanahan.bsky.social and I explored more intentional pushes into this direction in our paper, here: arxiv.org/abs/2411.13223
Existential Conversations with Large Language Models: Content, Community, and Culture
Contemporary conversational AI systems based on large language models (LLMs) can engage users on a wide variety of topics, including philosophy, spirituality, and religion. Suitably prompted, LLMs can...
arxiv.org
Adverb@adverb.bsky.social · last yr.Ah... good to hear. ...
"Is it possible to articulate a conception of consciousness that is compatible with the exotic characteristics of contemporary, disembodied AI systems, and that can stand up to philosophical scrutiny?" Updated version of this paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/pdf/2503.16348
