Joscha Bach – The Machine Consciousness Hypothesis
What if our consciousness is not a ‘thing’ we have, but a simulation our brain runs to make sense of itself?
At our upcoming conference, we are thrilled to host Joscha Bach at Future Day 2026 – he is a leading voice in cognitive architectures and the founding director of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness1. Bach’s talks are famous for being mind-bending journeys that challenge fundamental assumptions about reality and agency. In his upcoming session, he will dive into the Machine Consciousness Hypothesis, offering a glimpse into how we might one day create truly sentient digital minds.
Synopsis: How can we determine whether computers are conscious? And what can we learn about biological consciousness if we try to ignite awareness in machines?
Joscha Bach argues that consciousness emerges from an information-processing system capable of creating internal models of itself and the world. He emphasises the importance of mental models, emotional frameworks, and meta-cognition in the construction of conscious AI.2
Bach argues that only simulations can be conscious and that a “physical system cannot by itself be conscious; only the simulation it runs can possess consciousness“. This frames consciousness as a software-like pattern generated by an internal model rather than a substrate property of matter.3
Video of talk:
See Joscha’s TED talk From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Consciousness.
We previously discussed AI, Consciousness, Science, Art & Understanding with Joscha Bach.
Bio
Joscha Bach, Ph.D. is an AI researcher who worked and published about cognitive architectures, mental representation, emotion, social modeling, and multi-agent systems. He earned his Ph.D. in cognitive science from the University of Osnabrück, Germany, and has built computational models of motivated decision making, perception, categorization, and concept-formation. He is especially interested in the philosophy of AI and in the augmentation of the human mind.
Joscha has taught computer science, AI, and cognitive science at the Humboldt-University of Berlin and the Institute for Cognitive Science at Osnabrück. His book “Principles of Synthetic Intelligence” (Oxford University Press) is available on amazon.
Footnotes
- California Institute for Machine Consciousness – CIMC – https://cimc.ai/
Mission: Develop testable theories of machine consciousness and foster a culture and ethics built on a deeper understanding of consciousness.
I. Advance and validate theories of consciousness through applied research.
II. Build a robust ethical framework for AI that prioritizes conscious agency and societal impact.
III. Engage collaboratively with academia, industry, and the public. ↩︎ - See post Exciting Progress in Artificial Intelligence – Joscha Bach ↩︎
- See Joscha’s profile at IAI tv. ↩︎
