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March 6, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Michael Pollan explains why AI will never replicate human consciousness<\/p>\n Michael Pollan tells Scientific American why the science of consciousness may ultimately be too subject to our own conscious minds to crack<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner<\/span><\/p>\n WhataWin via Getty Images<\/p>\n Michael Pollan sat down with Scientific American’s Brianne Kane to discuss his new book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. This story is adapted from that discussion. To hear more about Pollan\u2019s thoughts on consciousness and his new book, listen to the interview in this Science Quickly podcast.<\/p>\n Of all of the top contenders for the hardest problem in science, perhaps the most important to our lived experience is this: What, exactly, is consciousness?<\/p>\n Humans have a highly complex brain and, for some of us at least, even more complex emotions. We can think and feel; we are aware of ourselves. We can create new ideas. But where this awareness comes from is a mystery. And why we feel anything at all about anything is clouded with subjectivity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only tool we have with which to explore consciousness is consciousness itself,\u201d says Michael Pollan, a celebrated science journalist and author of the new book A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. This conundrum\u2014and how to potentially solve it\u2014guides Pollan\u2019s examination of consciousness, highlighting both the science and the philosophical dilemma it poses.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n In this episode of Science Quickly, journalist Michael Pollan joins Scientific American\u2019s Bri Kane to unpack why consciousness is so hard to define in a discussion that explores what brain science, artificial intelligence experiments and even psychedelics might reveal about how awareness works.<\/p>\n How we know we are conscious is likely impossible to fully explain using conventional neuroscience research methods such as brain scans, Pollan says. \u201cOne of the speculations in the book is that it may take a scientific revolution to really help us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n There are some 29 competing theories of consciousness. We can trace signs of awareness and emotion in the brain. We can feel certain that we, as thinking individuals, are conscious and can infer that other humans are conscious, too. But, Pollan argues, that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n One of the major questions Pollan tackles in the book is whether we could ever recognize consciousness in another species or entity. Detecting such a phenomenon in an organism or entity that looks and behaves nothing like a human will be \u201creally hard,\u201d he says. An artificial intelligence, for example, might express consciousness in very different ways than humans do, he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it’ll be anything like ours,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause ours is very much the product of our bodies and our of our human vulnerability.\u201d One researcher he cites in the book is Mark Solms, whose lab is attempting to develop a conscious AI by making it feel uncertainty and conflicting needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe may have to become kind of plurals of consciousness and stipulate that there are going to be many different kinds,\u201d Pollan says.<\/p>\n Pollan spoke to Scientific American’s associate books editor Brianne Kane. You can listen to the podcast interview here.<\/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":" March 6, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Michael Pollan explains why AI will never replicate human consciousness Michael Pollan tells Scientific American why the science of consciousness may ultimately be too subject to our own conscious minds to crack By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner WhataWin via Getty Images Michael<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[7958,4326,761,3401,23602,23612],"class_list":{"0":"post-46081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-consciousness","9":"tag-explains","10":"tag-human","11":"tag-michael","12":"tag-pollan","13":"tag-replicate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46081","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=46081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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