What matters is not what lies dormant beneath: why AI consciousness is not about biological substrates
Synthese March 31, 2026 Christian R. De Weerd
The paper argues that the view that biological substrates (as opposed to biological functions) are necessary for consciousness is untenable. It faces a dilemma: if interpreted in an empirically respectable way, it collapses into a biological function view; if interpreted as truly distinct, it becomes empirically intractable and theoretically arbitrary. Therefore, the biological substrate view should be set aside in debates about artificial consciousness. The author suggests that once this view is bracketed, the dispute between biological naturalism and computational functionalism becomes less stark, and progress can focus on identifying which biological or non-biological functions are necessary for consciousness.