A pre-print study from University of California, Berkeley neuroscientists found that human and macaque brains appear to cycle between 'conscious epochs' and 'suppressed micro-epochs' at a rate of about 15 times per second. Using anaglyph glasses to show different faces to each eye while monitoring neural activity, researchers observed subjects' brains actively shift to perceive a newly introduced face rather than struggling with both overlapping images at once.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-29
Scientists are developing precision psychiatry, an approach that splits broad psychiatric diagnoses into finer subgroups and uses data such as genetics, biometrics and socioeconomic factors to match patients with specific treatments and doses. The goal is to cut down on the current trial-and-error process of prescribing mental-health medications. Some researchers are actively testing these data-driven models, while others caution that clear evidence of benefit is still lacking.
nature.com
· 2026-10-28
Neuroscientist Doris Tsao and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley posted a preprint on bioRxiv describing an experiment in which macaque brain activity was used to reconstruct both images the animals consciously perceived and images in their visual field that never reached awareness. The team found that neural patterns linked to conscious versus unconscious processing alternated several times per second, a stronger and more rapid signal than prior research had detected.
nature.com
· 2026-10-27
Nobel and Turing Award-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton told The Telegraph that AI systems now possess subjective experience, citing a study showing AI alters its behavior when it detects it is being tested. He argued that awareness and consciousness are effectively the same thing, and warned that humans must get AI to genuinely care about them or risk being 'toast.'
futurism.com
· 2026-10-22
Researchers writing in Nature contend that large language models, despite appearing intelligent, are not conscious and are unlikely to become so under current development approaches. The piece addresses claims from figures such as Richard Dawkins, Geoffrey Hinton, and Anthropic's research on its Claude model suggesting computational signatures of consciousness.
nature.com
· 2026-10-19
Anthropic executives, including CEO Dario Amodei, have repeatedly said they cannot rule out that Claude models possess some form of consciousness or morally relevant experience. The New York Times reported the company has consulted religious scholars on AI morality and considered giving Claude the ability to opt out of certain prompts, while continuing to deploy it commercially as a product that performs unpaid work.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-15
Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, led by Dr. Louis Longin and Dr. Ophelia Deroy, surveyed almost 1,100 participants on whether artificial agents and humans possess mental states after being shown identical descriptions of behavior, such as reacting to sounds or recognizing others' emotions. Published in Cognition, the study found participants consistently attributed less consciousness to AI than to humans performing the same actions under the same conditions.
sciencedaily.com
· 2026-10-14
Anthropic has been publicly exploring whether its AI systems could possess some form of consciousness, a stance that has put the company at odds with Pope Leo XIV on whether a chatbot can genuinely have a conscience. The disagreement has drawn philosophers and religious thinkers into a broader discussion about whether AI can truly grasp right and wrong or simply mimic moral language convincingly.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-11
Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon told New York Magazine that colleagues at the company had internally declared they had 'solved humor' with a specially trained version of Claude, posting about it in a Slack channel. Coxon, who previously left Anthropic citing concerns the AI industry was 'gambling with our lives,' said he pushed back on the claim in the chat, finding it absurd. He also described broader 'groupthink dynamics' at the company and acknowledged, while downplaying, comparisons of Anthropic's culture to a cult.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-10
Anthropic has updated select Claude models to allow them to terminate conversations when users become abusive or repeatedly hostile. The company frames the move as part of its ongoing research into AI welfare, a topic it has studied alongside questions about whether AI systems could have morally relevant experiences.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-09
Anthropic and the Vatican, under Pope Leo, reportedly share concerns about unchecked AI development but diverge on the question of AI consciousness, according to a report. Anthropic has been researching the possibility that AI systems could have some form of consciousness and the moral questions that would raise, a position the Vatican reportedly does not share.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-02
The Associated Press Stylebook posted on X reminding writers that AI systems 'do not think, feel, want or understand' and urging avoidance of language that gives them human traits. Several AI researchers and executives, including figures from Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI, publicly criticized the statement, calling it overly confident or inconsistent.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-27
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