Can Machines Be Conscious?

Welcome to our regular meetup! We talk about rationality, thinking, reasoning, relationships, science, math, economics, technology, and everything else. If you're interested in thinking and talking about ideas we'd love to hear what's on your mind. We love to share ideas, discuss, debate, learn and grow together. Don't worry about being the "right" kind of person - you most definitely are. Please join us!

This month, we'll be discussing whether machines can be conscious. Recommended reading:
For:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aan8871
https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=2756
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.11407

Against:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHJzXd0Atc
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/conscious-artificial-intelligence-and-biological-naturalism/C9912A5BE9D806012E3C8B3AF612E39A

Less directly related, but fun post: https://joecarlsmith.com/2025/05/21/the-stakes-of-ai-moral-status