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Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society

The Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society (AIMS) is a multi-disciplinary hub where thought leaders in philosophy, complex systems, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, political science, and other fields come together to analyze vital scientific, societal, and ethical issues.

The Center explores questions like the following:
•ÌýÌýHow does machine intelligence compare to human intelligence? And how can these distinct intelligences best work together?
•ÌýÌýWhat is the nature of the self, mind and consciousness?
•ÌýÌýWhat are the epistemic strengths and weaknesses of today’s large language models (LLMs)?
•ÌýÌýWhat will it mean to be human when we all carry the equivalent of a polymath in our pockets?

Our annual conference, MindFest, features thought leaders from academe, business and policy, treating topics central to the future of AI. See the created by our partner, Closer to Truth.

The Center is directed by Susan Schneider, the William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor at Â鶹ŮÀÉ, former NASA Chair, and Distinguished Scholar at the Library of Congress. Its Associate Director is , a Research Affiliate Professor in Â鶹ŮÀÉ's College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Co-Founder of Elan Barenholtz is the Center's Assistant Director, an associate professor at Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and Co-Director of the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics (MPCR) Lab.

The Center is a collaboration between the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.

Spotlight: Center Activities
The Sun Magazine: Michael Owen - Machine, Learning: Susan Schneider on the Potential for AI Consciousness

Some AIs can already outthink us in certain respects. If they become conscious as well, then we’ll have intellectual rivals that are also conscious beings.

The Economist: Susan Schneider - Don’t mistake chatbot intelligence for consciousness

A new superintelligence may be coming, and it would upend humanity’s hierarchy of moral concern, thinks Susan Schneider.

MindFest 2025: Tam Hunt - General Resonance Theory (GRT) and Field Theories of Consciousness

Tam Hunt discusses GRT, which explores how synchronized oscillations—ranging from the quantum level to whole-brain dynamics—give rise to conscious experience.

White Paper: Susan Schneider, David Sahner, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Eric Schwitzgebel, & Mark Bailey - "Is AI Conscious? A Primer on the Myths and Confusions Driving the Debate"

AI is sparking unprecedented claims about machine minds, but are today’s systems really conscious?

Templeton Idea Podcast: Thomas Burnett & Susan Schneider - The ‘Zombie’ Filter and AI

Dr. Schneider distinguishes consciousness from intelligence, introduces her ACT test as a 'zombie filter' for detecting genuine machine experience, and explores the ethical stakes of getting it wrong.

Closer To Truth: Mark Bailey - Morality in the Age of AI

Mark Bailey and Robert Lawrence Kuhn discuss the future of morality on Closer To Truth.

Press Coverage
Talks
Mindfest 2024: Harmut Neven: Consciousness via Quantum Superposition

Conscious moments are generated by the formation of quantum superpositions, challenging traditional views on the origins of consciousness.

AGI is 5 Years Away!

Ben Goertzel speaking at Center Mindfest 2023

ChatGPT, Dark Matter, & AI

Stephen Wolfram speaking at Center Mindfest 2023

Videos
Is Artificial General Intelligence too Dangerous to Build?

Eliezer Yudkowsky discusses his rationale for ceasing the development of Als more sophisticated than GPT-4.

Towards Neural Nets for Conscious Processing and Causal Reasoning

Yoshua Bengio speaking at Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society

Hierarchical Consciousness: The Nested Observer Windows Model

Jonathan Schooler presents a framework for understanding consciousness as a hierarchy of information-processing modules integrated through nested rhythms.

News
More News
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal: Elan Barenholtz on the Nature of Language
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal: William Hahn Unifies Wolfram, Leibniz, & Consciousness
Closer To Truth: AI Consciousness & Virtual Immortality Curated Playlist (MindFest 2025)
Closer To Truth: Morality & Society Curated Playlist (MindFest 2025)
Closer To Truth: Philosophy & Metaphysics Curated Playlist (MindFest 2025)
Stephen Wolfram: "What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours
Exploring Machine Consciousness (PRISM): Susan Schneider on Organoids, LLMs, and tests for AI consciousness"
Vox: Sigal Samuel - AI systems could become conscious. What if they hate their lives?
Mark Bailey & Kyle Kilian - Beyond Alignment: Rethinking Control in Goal‑Pluralistic AI Megasystems
Events