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September 2, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Is Consciousness the Hallmark of Life?<\/p>\n
As AI grows more fluent in mimicking human empathy, language and memory, we\u2019re left asking: If a machine can fake awareness so well, what exactly is the real thing?<\/p>\n
More than half a billion people around the world have downloaded artificial-intelligence chatbot companion apps such as Xiaoice and Replika. These virtual confidantes can provide empathy, support and, sometimes, deep relationships. Chatbots, of course, aren\u2019t conscious\u2014they just feel that way to users, who often become emotionally attached to them. As AI grows more fluent in mimicking human empathy, language and memory, we\u2019re left to confront an uneasy problem: If a machine can fake awareness so well, what exactly is the real thing? It’s a deceptively simple question\u2014one that scientists, philosophers and even neuroscientists still struggle to answer: What is consciousness?<\/p>\n
Unlike other scientific phenomena, consciousness cannot be observed directly; one can observe behavior or brain activity but not the subjective experience itself. Whether human awareness is a \u201cstage\u201d where inputs compete for our attention or a unified system processing information all at once is still up for debate. In fact, our reality may stem from subjective internal experiences, such as colors or tastes, that arise because of consciousness. Behavior may also feed this experience, as suggested by a thought experiment about pain-pleasure invert \u201cphilosophical zombies\u201d described here.<\/p>\n
As complicated as this mystery seems, human cognition operates at a relatively slow, fixed speed of roughly 10 bits per second for tasks such as remembering, making decisions and imagining. Sudden insights can bubble to the surface while unconscious operations churn away. And people\u2019s brain waves predictably sync up as the individuals interact, which is perhaps an evolutionary adaptation that helps us bond. Automatic processes suggest our minds operate without our conscious involvement, but that\u2019s not the whole story.<\/p>\n
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Much goes on in the unconscious mind. It turns out dreams can be a bellwether of cognitive disorder. And famous nappers such as Thomas Edison have believed they could manipulate their sleep to spark creativity. Our era of constant surveillance may cause cognitive changes without our knowledge. In people who are in comas, the mind might be aware but trapped.<\/p>\n
Reality can shift for people with illnesses that arise from complex interactions of genetics and environment, such as schizophrenia. Scientists can now identify early biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer\u2019s disease, but these tools raise ethical and social concerns. A rare neurological condition called Alice in Wonderland syndrome appears to warp a person\u2019s perception of bodies and time, especially in children. And sometimes a rift develops between the world and a mind, a stark reminder that awareness is malleable. Surprising activity in dying brains can temporarily restore neural function.<\/p>\n
AI will certainly continue to advance, becoming better at imitating the hallmark behavior of conscious beings and perhaps even someday achieving artificial general intelligence. But as cognitive scientist Anil K. Seth tells reporter George Musser, \u201cConsciousness is not a matter of being smart. It\u2019s equally a matter of being alive.\u201d So far that\u2019s a claim that only humans, among other creatures on Earth, can make.<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" September 2, 2025 2 min read Is Consciousness the Hallmark of Life? As AI grows more fluent in mimicking human empathy, language and memory, we\u2019re left asking: If a machine can fake awareness so well, what exactly is the real thing? By Andrea Gawrylewski More than half a billion people around the world have downloaded<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[7958,11465,337],"class_list":{"0":"post-18740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-consciousness","9":"tag-hallmark","10":"tag-life"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}