Leading Neuroscientist Exposes the Fatal Flaws in AI Consciousness Theories

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 What is consciousness? Will we ever be able to create digital twins of ourselves that are conscious? And can artificial intelligence ever truly experience consciousness? Here today to enlighten us on these elusive yet fascinating topics is Christof Koch! Christof is a renowned neuroscientist and one of the leading figures in the field of consciousness. He is best known for his work in exploring the neural bases of consciousness, particularly in relation to the brain's structure and function. A key proponent of Integrated Information Theory, Christof is also about to release his new book, Then I Am Myself the World, an essential read for anyone seeking to understand humankind and the future we are creating. Join Christof and me as we delve into the mystical and mysterious world of consciousness. — Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 00:43 Judging a book by its cover 03:03 Defining consciousness 05:55 Progress in understanding consciousness 07:43 Integrated information theory 12:42 Consciousness in non-human systems 15:58 Meditation, psychedelics and dancing 17:58 AI scientists and digital twins 26:56 The perception box 31:43 Quantum mechanics and consciousness 38:25 How to calculate phi 44:01 Quantum computers and consciousness 48:00 Audience questions 52:49 Outro — Additional resources: ➡️ Learn more about Christof Koch: 💻 Website: https://christofkoch.com/ 📚 Then I Am Myself the World: https://a.co/d/agleHRB ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast — Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	They can do everything we can do, or will be able to do everything we can do, but they don't have any state of being.
0:06.3	They don't exist for themselves. They're all just like my garbage collector. It doesn't feel like anything to be in LLM.
0:12.3	They will never be what we are, conscious.
0:26.0	Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
0:29.5	Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
0:37.3	Hurstoff, great to meet you at least virtually, and it's been 25 years since we were together at Caltech.
0:38.1	How are you doing?
0:42.4	I'm well. It's snowing here in Seattle, which is unusual.
0:48.2	Christoph, so today we're here to talk about your really legendary career and the contributions that you've made maybe more on the physics side to the theory of consciousness, et cetera,
0:53.7	than you have talked about in the
0:55.8	past. But I want to start, as I often do, with doing that thing you're never supposed to do,
1:01.8	which is to judge a book by its cover. So they say not to do that, but what else do you have to go on
1:06.5	if you've never read the book? So if you'd show the book, there it is, then I am myself the world.
1:11.5	And this is kind of an exploration. It's almost like a travel log, at least in some ways,
1:17.0	with a near-death experience. I wonder if you could tell us the origin of the title, the subtitle,
1:22.3	and the artwork is, yeah, I could probably understand it, but tell me, besides the fact that it's
1:26.7	the University of California colors, what does the title and subtitle represent?
1:30.4	So the title comes actually not from a near-death experience, but from a different experience,
1:35.1	a mystical experience, and it's taken from, it's translated from the German,
1:39.6	It's from Richard Wagner opera, the second act, Tristan Isolde,
1:46.5	in which Tristan Isolder, the eponymous lovers, fall into love,
1:50.0	and they try to overcome the individuality.
	...

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