What Is Consciousness, and Can AI Be Conscious? | Panel Discussion at UT Austin

Original author：Consciousness Studies Circle, UT Austin

Original source：https://www.youtube.com/embed/UPEDiecHOmU

Featuring Galen Strawson, Swami Sarvapriyananda, Peter Stone, Scott Aaronson, and Katherine Freese. In this interdisciplinary panel, leading experts in artificial intelligence, philosophy, and physics come together to examine a question that is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI: "What is consciousness, and could AI ever possess it?" As AI systems increasingly mirror aspects of human cognition, foundational questions about mind, matter, intelligence, and subjective experience have returned to the forefront of scientific and philosophical inquiry. Can consciousness arise from computation? Does physics tell us anything about the nature of subjective experience? Is the hard problem of consciousness really a hard problem of matter? And what, if anything, distinguishes a conscious being from an intelligent machine? This discussion brings together perspectives from computer science, quantum computing, cosmology, philosophy of mind, and Advaita Vedanta. Panelists • Peter Stone (AI & Robotics, UT Austin; Chief Scientist, Sony AI) • Scott Aaronson (Quantum Computing & Complexity Theory, UT Austin) • Katherine Freese (Theoretical Cosmology & Astrophysics, UT Austin) • Galen Strawson (Philosophy of Mind, UT Austin) • Swami Sarvapriyananda (Non-dual Indian Philosophy, Vedanta Society of New York) Hosted by the Consciousness Studies Circle at The University of Texas at Austin. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Chapters 0:00:00 Introduction 0:04:03 The Evolution of AI 0:08:45 How Modern AI Works 0:13:18 Why Is Consciousness So Hard to Explain? 0:18:38 Is Matter the Real Mystery? 0:23:02 Matter, Dark Matter & the Universe 0:27:32 Can AI Discover New Laws of Physics? 0:29:52 Does Physics Explain What Matter Really Is? 0:32:18 Quantum Mechanics & Consciousness 0:39:09 A Radical Definition of Consciousness 0:41:30 How Do We Know Anything Else Is Conscious? 0:49:29 Could AI Become Conscious? 1:02:58 What Happens to Consciousness During Sleep? 1:08:41 Consciousness, Matter & Non-Duality 1:14:14 Audience Q&A 1:25:32 Closing Remarks ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #consciousness #artificialintelligence #AI #aiconsciousness #philosophy #philosophyofmind #philosophyofai #nonduality #advaita #vedanta #advaitavedanta #scottaaronson #sarvapriyananda #swamisarvapriyananda #katherinefreese #galenstrawson #peterstone #utaustin