The feasibility of artificial consciousness through the lens of neuroscience
Trends in Neurosciences June 1, 2023 Jaan Aru, M. Larkum, J. Shine
Claims that large language models may soon be conscious are difficult to defend from a neuroscience perspective. The inputs to these models lack the embodied, embedded information content that characterizes sensory contact with the world. Present-day AI architectures also miss key features of the thalamocortical system linked to conscious awareness in mammals. Furthermore, the evolutionary and developmental trajectories that produced living conscious organisms have no parallels in current artificial systems. The existence of living organisms depends on actions and survival, which are linked to multi-level cellular, inter-cellular, and organismal processes that culminate in agency and consciousness.