Metacognitive Closure and Consciousness in Large Language Models
Proceedings of the AAAI Symposium Series May 18, 2026 Shun Yoshizawa, Ken Mogi
Metacognition supports judgment and robust cognition, but its role in consciousness is debated. Some researchers view metacognition as an extra mechanism built on basic processes, needed for reflecting on and reporting experiences, while others see it as integral to phenomenal consciousness, potentially addressing the hard problem. This paper argues that disagreements about whether large language models can possess consciousness, and about the nature and plurality of consciousness, persist due to unresolved issues. The authors introduce metacognitive closure, analogous to Colin McGinn's cognitive closure, suggesting that difficulties in explaining consciousness may be clarified by analyzing metacognition. They propose that problems in consciousness and cognition form a continuous spectrum that can be streamlined through this lens.