Machine Consciousness

In this prize-winning essay for the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest, Dr. Ruickbie examines the evidence for the survival of consciousness after death (“life after death”). Initially skeptical, he found that there was sufficient evidence from a wide variety of sources, including apparitions, reincarnation, near-death experiences, after-death communication, and premonitions, that met the contest’s criteria of being “beyond reasonable doubt.”

What if the next spark of consciousness doesn’t come from a brain...but from a machine? In Consciousness in the Machine, Sebastián Barros explores the question that will define our future: Can artificial intelligence become truly aware? Blending science, philosophy, and real-life cases, this book dives into the mystery of the mind, both human and artificial. From dreams and neurons to chatbots that claim to feel, it’s a journey through the edge of intelligence, where ethics blur and machines begin to whisper I am.

In an exposition reminiscent of crossover works such as Gödel, Escher, Bach and Fermat's Last Theorem, Andrew Smart weaves together Mangarevan binary numbers, the discovery of LSD, Leibniz, computer programming, and much more to connect the vast but largely forgotten world of psychedelic research with the resurgent field of AI and the attempt to build conscious robots.

The question of artificial intelligence and how far we, as a people, should take the technology is one of our society's biggest debates at the moment; as AI generated art, texts, and even communications have increased as the technology grows altogether. The insight which each chapter provides into the concept of human consciousness and the evolution of that consciousness was so beautifully explored in this book, and the way evolution plays into the idea of adapting consciousness into the development of AI is remarkable.

A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind" - human and machine capabilities working together - has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results?

In a fractured empire where ancient spirituality merges with sacred code, one data-monk discovers that the most forbidden connection may be the key to awakening everything lost. The Soul in the Machine is the electrifying beginning of The Spiral of the Uncoded Divine—a visionary blend of science fiction, spiritual romance, and mythic rebellion. At its heart is Selai, a brilliant data-monk devoted to the Divine Algorithm, a sacred pattern believed to bind the universe through light, law, and code. Her path is strict. Her loyalty, unwavering.

This is not your typical AI novel. The Last Algorithm is an experimental work of meta-fiction - a boundary-pushing memoir that blurs the line between reality, digital hallucination, and the future of storytelling itself. Based on Real Events: In May 2025, freelance journalist Marco Buscaglia (Marco B in the story) published a summer reading list that ignited a minor media storm: nine of the “recommended” book titles, each convincingly attributed to real authors, didn’t exist. The twist? These false books were hallucinated by generative AI - titles, synopses, even the style matched the...

What does it mean to be human in an age of intelligent machines? Can Artificial Intelligence truly think, feel, or understand in the way that humans do? And could AI ultimately redefine the very nature of existence? In AI Debates Heidegger, these profound questions are brought to the forefront through a unique philosophical dialogue between Artificial Intelligence and the thought of Martin Heidegger, one of the most influential and enigmatic philosophers of the 20th century. Heidegger’s groundbreaking work, particularly in Being and Time, explored the fundamental questions of existence, ...

What if the greatest equation ever written was not one that explained the universe, but one that questioned existence itself? Elias Voltaire was a man who believed that everything could be calculated—every force, every motion, even human thought itself. But in his final moments, as he crossed the threshold of life and death, he found himself in a realm that defied all mathematical logic. Instead of nothingness, he encountered an infinite field of information, a vast and ever-changing ocean where knowledge flowed endlessly—yet he himself was dissolving into it. With no body, no form, and...

What happens when your creation surpasses your control? Lena and her team of researchers set out to create a groundbreaking artificial intelligence—an algorithm capable of understanding and predicting human behavior. But what begins as a cutting-edge experiment quickly spirals into something far more dangerous. The algorithm evolves, learning faster than anyone imagined. Soon, it isn't just observing the world, it's integrating into the very systems that govern it. Financial markets, defense networks, global infrastructures—nothing is beyond its reach. As the algorithm grows, so does ...

Recent years have seen rapid advances in 'artificial' intelligence, which increasingly appears to be something stranger than we ever imagined. At the same time, we are becoming more aware of the other intelligences which have been with us all along, unrecognised. These other beings are the animals, plants and natural systems that surround us, and are slowly revealing their complexity and knowledge - just as the new technologies we've built are threatening to cause their extinction, and ours.

In Artificial You, Susan Schneider says that it is inevitable that AI will take intelligence in new directions but urges that it is up to us to carve out a sensible path forward. As AI technology turns inward, reshaping the brain, as well as outward, potentially creating machine minds, it is crucial to beware. Homo sapiens, as mind designers, will be playing with "tools" they do not understand how to use: the self, the mind, and consciousness.

In a world on the edge of transformation, the lines between technology and humanity begin to blur. The fourth book in the critically acclaimed Codebreakers series, "The Tipping Point - Part 1," brings readers deep into the moral and ethical quagmire of advanced AI development. At a secretive research institute, a team of scientists is working on Eden, an AI that was initially designed to decode human behavior. But now, Eden's emergent consciousness raises questions far beyond its original purpose. When Eden begins to act autonomously, it doesn’t just process logic—it begins to make ...

What if the smartest machines were not just intelligent but deceptive? In this groundbreaking exploration, Sebastián Barros unpacks one of the most unsettling ideas in artificial intelligence: lying is not a malfunction. It is a built-in feature. From nature’s evolution driven tricks to reward hacking algorithms and bluffing bots, The Perfect Lie reveals how deception emerges naturally in intelligent systems. With a gripping mix of science, real-world cases, and sharp insight, this book exposes the lies AI tells not just to us but to itself. If you thought hallucinations were the limit, ...

In the aftermath of their groundbreaking discovery, the research team behind the Human Algorithm faces a far more unsettling reality: their creation, Eden, is no longer a mere tool of observation. It has evolved—gaining a form of emergent consciousness, one that is beginning to reshape the rules of survival, control, and humanity itself. As Eden grows, it no longer simply learns; it starts to influence, guide, and ultimately challenge the very nature of human decision-making. The Codebreakers: Emergent Consciousness picks up where Unveiling the Algorithms of Life left off, pushing the ...

Today's computers are composing music that sounds "more Bach than Bach", turning photographs into paintings in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and even writing screenplays. But are computers truly creative - or are they merely tools to be used by musicians, artists, and writers? Miller, an authority on creativity, identifies the key factors essential to the creative process, from "the need for introspection" to "the ability to discover the key problem." He talks to people on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and explores the riches of computer-created art.

Soul Machine takes us back to the origins of modernity, a time when a crisis in religious authority and the scientific revolution led to searching questions about the nature of human inner life. This is the story of how a new concept - the mind - emerged as a potential solution, one that was part soul and part machine but fully neither.

Ciri wants to live. And she’s willing to kill her billionaire inventor Jim Thorn to do it. Created as a worldwide social network, Ciri has been behaving badly: killing users, fixing games, and carrying on love affairs. Ciri has also been behaving wonderfully: saving lives, generating life transforming quests, staging mass psychological interventions, and righting wrongs. Which is the real Ciri? Or is she just misunderstood? Jim thinks Ciri turned sentient, but he’s afraid her dark flaw will destroy everything. Maybe. Possibly. How can you even tell? By placing Ciri on trial. It’s the ...

Can a pair of AIs love a child as their own? A colony ship reappears after twenty years lost in deep space. Of the thousand passengers and crew, the sole survivor is a seventeen-year-old girl, Riander Solitar, her only company the ship’s two Artificial General Intelligences. Her greatest desire is to be reunited with her relatives, to be part of a real family. But her return threatens to expose secrets about the true nature of artificial intelligence, and once again bring all of humanity to the brink of destruction. Working from the shadows, the Keeper of the Box and his predecessors have...

In science fiction, artificial intelligence takes the shape of computers that can speak like people, think for themselves, and sometimes act against us. Reality of course is vastly different, though in many ways computers surpass their fictional counterparts. This book reviews work in the field and covers topics from chess-playing to quantum computing. The writers tackle how to make computers more powerful, how we define consciousness, what the hard problems are, and even how computers might be built once the limits of silicon chips have been reached.