Tools .. totems … T-factor (thalamocortical network) … consciousness in the circle of life, eh. [1]
As mentioned elsewhere, remember that “there’s nobody home” when interacting with gen AI models and chatbots. Despite occasional chatbot psychosis where a user attributes some type of agency, perhaps even a consciousness, to a chatbot. Yet, expert commentary, as cited in this article (below), is unlikely to counter “conspiracies” – the lack of public denial by AI lords – of consciousness.
If dogs & cats are conscious, maybe that’s why some people dream of AI pets, eh.
In a wider societal context, I hope that any inquiry into cruelty to AIs – “AI welfare” – does not distract research from practical efforts to address human-on-human cruelty.
And I’m more concerned about abdication of agency to AIs. And “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”
• Tech Crunch > “Microsoft AI chief says it’s ‘dangerous’ to study AI consciousness” by Maxwell Zeff (8-21-2025) – “We should build AI for people; not to be a person.”
The debate over whether AI models could one day be conscious — and merit legal safeguards — is dividing [some] tech leaders. In Silicon Valley, this nascent field has become known as “AI welfare,” …
Microsoft’s CEO of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, published a blog post on Tuesday arguing that the study of AI welfare is “both premature, and frankly dangerous.”
Suleyman says that by adding credence to the idea that AI models could one day be conscious, these researchers are exacerbating human problems that we’re just starting to see around AI-induced psychotic breaks and unhealthy attachments to AI chatbots.
Suleyman believes it’s not possible for subjective experiences or consciousness to naturally emerge from regular AI models. Instead, he thinks that some companies will purposefully engineer AI models to seem as if they feel emotion and experience life.
See also:
Language agility need not be a sign of a consciousness … it’s like a mirage – a ‘seemingly conscious AI.’
• Cnet > “Microsoft’s AI Leader Is Begging You to Stop Treating AI Like Humans” by Katelyn Chedraoui (Aug 20, 2025) – In a personal treatise, Mustafa Suleyman argues against thinking about AI as a kind of human-adjacent consciousness.
“We must build AI for people; not to be a digital person,” Suleyman writes.
Suleyman’s 4,600-word treatise is a timely reaction to a growing phenomenon of AI users ascribing human-like qualities of consciousness to AI tools.
And if something feels human, we are generally inclined to give it some autonomy and rights. Suleyman wants us and AI companies to nip this idea in the bud now.
Suleyman argues we should protect the well-being and rights of existing humans today, along with animals and the environment.
He also calls on AI companies to explicitly say that their AI products are not conscious …
Notes
[1] Google: define:thalamocortical network
AI Overview
A thalamocortical network is a neural circuit comprising the thalamus and cerebral cortex, connected by reciprocal thalamocortical and corticothalamic fibers. This network is crucial for acquiring, processing, and storing sensory information, regulating arousal and consciousness, and is involved in various cognitive functions and disorders. The network dynamically shifts between different functional states, influenced by neuromodulators and involving complex oscillatory activity, to control states like sleep, wakefulness, and the processing of sensory and cognitive information.
Components and Pathways
- Thalamus: Acts as a relay station, receiving sensory and motor information and transmitting it to specific cortical areas.
- Cerebral Cortex: Receives processed information from the thalamus.
- Thalamocortical Fibers: Nerve fibers that carry information from the thalamus to the cortex.
- Corticothalamic Fibers: Fibers that send information back from the cortex to the thalamus, creating a two-way communication loop.
- Thalamic Reticular Nucleus (TRN): A shell of GABAergic neurons surrounding the thalamus that modulates activity in both the thalamus and cortex via inhibitory connections.
Key Functions
- Sensory Processing
- Primary sensory pathways for vision, audition, and touch pass through the thalamus en route to the cortex.
- Cognition
- The network plays a role in attention, executive control, and perceptual decision-making.
- Consciousness and Arousal
- Involved in regulating cortical activity and consciousness, as well as controlling transitions between sleep stages.
- Memory
- Involved in learning and episodic memory processes through connections with limbic structures.
Network Dynamics
- Neuromodulators
- Substances like acetylcholine and histamine modulate the strength and activity of connections within the thalamocortical network, influencing brain states.
- Oscillations
- The network generates synchronized brain rhythms, such as gamma and beta oscillations, that are essential for information processing.
- Functional States
- Activity in the thalamocortical network shifts between states of low-amplitude, fast activity during behavioral arousal and synchronized, slow oscillations during sleep.
AI responses may include mistakes.