AI Consciousness Requires Validated Models of Human Consciousness
Proceedings of the AAAI Symposium Series May 18, 2026 Paras Chopra
Claims about AI consciousness should be grounded in models first validated on humans, because scientific observation ultimately depends on human perceptual agreement. Without such models, the question of whether an AI is conscious lacks sufficient empirical grounding. The authors propose a human-first methodology: identify measurable phenomena linked to human consciousness, build and validate predictive models, and only then apply them to AI systems. This approach aims to transform philosophical debates into productive scientific inquiry.