Generative AI and the Problem of Consciousness
Posted: February 18, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentA One Day Workshop with Professor Murray Shanahan (Google DeepMind/Imperial)
10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. March 12th 2026
Venue: Seminar Room, ISA/135, Institute for Safe Autonomy, University of York
There is no fee for attendance, but please e-mail the organiser (ap.thomas@york.ac.uk) if you plan to attend.
Schedule
Session One (Morning): Interacting with Generative AI
Target Paper: Murray Shanahan, Kyle McDonnell & Laria Reynolds, (2023) ‘Role Play with Large Language Models’, Nature, 623, 7897, pp.493–498.
09:45 – 10:00 Coffee, Welcome Remarks (Alan Thomas)
10:00 – 10:20 Paper One Murray Shanahan ‘An Overview of the Target Papers’.
10:20 – 10:30 Discussion of Paper One
10:30 – 10:50 Paper Two Isobel Standen (York) –– ‘Engineered Authenticity and the Capacity to Pretend’
10:50 – 11:00 Discussion of Paper Two
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30 – 11:50 Paper Three Leonidas Chiotis (York) – ‘Can LLMs Successfully Play Roles? How Could We Tell?’
11:50 – 12 noon Discussion of Paper Three
12 noon – 12:30 Panel Discussion: Interacting with Generative AI
12:30 – 1:45 pm Lunch
Session Two (Afternoon): Generative AI as a Strange Form of Consciousness
Target Paper: Murray Shanahan (2024) ‘Simulacra as Conscious Exotica’, Inquiry, pp.1–29.
1:45 – 2:00 Welcome to session Two, Alan Thomas
2:00 – 2:20 Paper Four: Daria Zakharova (LSE) –– ‘Missing the Subject: Introspection in Large Language Models’
2:20 – 2:30 Discussion of Paper Four
2:30 – 2:50 Paper Five: Alan Thomas (York) –– ‘Criteria for Consciousness’
2:50 – 3:00 Discussion of Paper Five
3:00 – 3:20 Paper Six: Tom Stoneham (York) ‘Some Reflections On Existential Risk from Superintelligence’.
3:20 – 3:30 Discussion of Paper Six
3:30 – 4:00 Coffee Break
4:00 – 4:30 Round Table – What have we Learned?
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