Humanity has the debate about AI consciousness backwards

Illustration: Dan Williams Aug 20th 2026|5 min readARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE has triggered a crisis in the field of consciousness studies. If you’ve chatted with an advanced model, you will probably appreciate why. Most large language models (LLMs) are trained to be self-less, keeping the focus of every interaction on your needs. Nonetheless, it can be difficult to shake the impression of a presence on the other end of the chat. Are LLMs merely powerful digital tools with language interfaces, or are we now having conversations with other minds, experiencers of the world in their own right? In short, is AI conscious?This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “Blaise Agüera y Arcas”From the August 22nd 2026 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contents⇒Explore the edition