This podcast explores the crucial intersection of Artificial Intelligence, human cognition, and consciousness. Recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) have prompted new questions about the computational significance of conscious processing, especially since AI systems appear to exhibit intelligence without consciousness.

We delve into the potential domains of conscious supremacy, a concept analogous to quantum supremacy, which refers to areas of computation efficiently executed by conscious processes that systems lacking consciousness cannot perform within practical biological time limits. Consciousness itself is defined by phenomenal properties, such as qualia, intentionality, and self-awareness.

Discover the cognitive domains believed to be unique to human conscious processing, including flexible attention modulation, robust handling of new contexts, complex choice and decision making, integrated sensory information processing, and embodied cognition. We discuss how metacognitive monitoring and control are central to identifying and rectifying the limits of artificial intelligence systems.

Drawing on neuroscientific insights and adopting a theory-heavy approach, we examine the necessary structural and functional conditions for consciousness in AI. Learn how the elucidation of these unique conscious computations provides a necessary constraint for effective AI alignment strategies, advocating for a crucial division of labor where tasks belonging to conscious supremacy are better left to humans.

Would you like to explore the specifics of the "indicator properties" derived from theories like Global Workspace Theory (GWT) or Recurrent Processing Theory (RPT), or discuss the profound implications of using a "computational functionalism" hypothesis to assess AI consciousness?