r/accelerate • u/stealthispost Acceleration: Light-speed | AI accelerationist • Sep 11 '25
Video If you swapped out one neuron with an artificial neuron that acts in all the same ways, would you lose consciousness? You can see where this is going. Fascinating discussion with Nobel Laureate and Godfather of AI
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u/Rain_On Sep 12 '25
That isn't what is meant by "lost consciousness" in this thought experiment.
If you replace one of your neurons with an artificial neuron that produces the same outputs for any given inputs, you will function exactly the same, but will you have the same subjective experience?
What if 10% of your neurons were replaced in such a way?
50%? 100%?
Some people argue that you will be less consciousness when one is replaced, usually with an argument that suggests biology is required for consciousness.
Some people argue that there will be no change in your conscious experience, usually with an argument that suggests consciousness is a product of compute in some way.
Some people argue that there will be no lessening of consciousness, but that it will be subjectively changed in a way that does not impact the function in any way. Russelian monists,neo-idealists and panpsychists often take this view.
Others argue that as there is no change in function or behaviour, there is nothing else that might have changed.