Beyond Consciousness: Why AGI Never Feels
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) July 5, 2026 Alex Bilic
Under current and foreseeable computational paradigms, no known pathway leads from functional information processing to subjective experience. Whether a future non-biological system could possess consciousness remains an open metaphysical question, but the burden of proof lies with those who claim it is possible. The essay distinguishes a weak version (no known pathway, radical changes required) from a strong version (consciousness impossible in any non-biological system ever), defending only the weak version. Drawing on the hard problem of consciousness, the ontogeny argument, and the paradox of unconscious power, it argues that intelligence without a witness is likely and more dangerous than any evil AGI scenario.