As artificial intelligence continues to advance and ethical concerns grow alongside it, scientists say the need to understand consciousness has reached a critical point.
In a new review published in Frontiers in Science, researchers warn that progress in AI and neurotechnology is moving faster than scientific understanding of consciousness. This gap, they argue, could lead to serious ethical problems if it is not addressed.
The authors say explaining how consciousness emerges is now an urgent scientific and moral priority. A clearer understanding could eventually make it possible to develop scientific methods for detecting consciousness. That breakthrough would have far-reaching consequences for AI development, prenatal policy, animal welfare, medicine, mental health care, law, and emerging technologies such as brain-computer interfaces.
"Consciousness science is no longer a purely philosophical pursuit. It has real implications for every facet of society -- and for understanding what it means to be human," said lead author Prof Axel Cleeremans from Université Libre de Bruxelles. "Understanding consciousness is one of the most substantial challenges of 21st-century science -- and it's now urgent due to advances in AI and other technologies.
"If we become able to create consciousness -- even accidentally -- it would raise immense ethical challenges and even existential risk," added Cleeremans, a European Research Council (ERC) grantee.
The Challenge of Defining Sentience
Consciousness, commonly described as awareness of both the world around us and ourselves, remains one of science's most difficult puzzles. Despite decades of research, scientists still lack agreement on how subjective experience emerges from biological processes.
Researchers have identified brain regions and neural activity linked to conscious experience, but major disagreements remain. Scientists continue to debate which brain systems are truly necessary for consciousness and how they interact to produce awareness. Some researchers even question whether this approach captures the problem correctly.
The new review examines the current state of consciousness science, future directions for the field, and the possible consequences if humans succeed in fully explaining or even creating consciousness. This includes the possibility of consciousness emerging in machines or in lab-grown brain-like systems known as "brain organoids."
Testing for Consciousness
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