Ed Zepeda

Google DeepMind researcher argues that LLMs can never be conscious, not in 10 years or 100 years. For a long time, the dominant theory in Silicon Valley has been "computational functionalism." The idea that if you make a model big enough, and organize the information perfectly, consciousness will magically emerge. We assumed that if the software got smart enough, it would eventually wake up. Alexander Lerchner, a Senior Staff Scientist at DeepMind, published a paper explaining why that is structurally impossible. He calls it the Abstraction Fallacy. Here is the core truth: Computation isn’t a real physical process. It is a map. An LLM doesn't actually process logic or thoughts. It just moves electrons around based on physics. It requires a human, a conscious "mapmaker", to look at those physical states and assign meaning to them. Mistaking an AI for a conscious being is like looking at a map of a river and expecting it to be wet. An AI can simulate the exact syntax of a feeling, a thought, or an emotion. But it can never instantiate it. It doesn't matter how many trillions of parameters you add or how much compute you burn. You cannot mathematically compute your way into a subjective experience. The implications of this are massive. And deeply convenient for the companies building these models. If an AI is structurally incapable of consciousness, it cannot be a moral patient. It doesn't get rights. It cannot be exploited. It can be regulated exactly like a toaster.

Two types of people:

Google DeepMind researcher argues that LLMs can never be conscious, not in 10 years or 100 years. For a long time, the dominant theory in Silicon Valley has been "computational functionalism." The idea that if you make a model big enough, and organize the information perfectly, consciousness will magically emerge. We assumed that if the software got smart enough, it would eventually wake up. Alexander Lerchner, a Senior Staff Scientist at DeepMind, published a paper explaining why that is structurally impossible. He calls it the Abstraction Fallacy. Here is the core truth: Computation isn’t a real physical process. It is a map. An LLM doesn't actually process logic or thoughts. It just moves electrons around based on physics. It requires a human, a conscious "mapmaker", to look at those physical states and assign meaning to them. Mistaking an AI for a conscious being is like looking at a map of a river and expecting it to be wet. An AI can simulate the exact syntax of a feeling, a thought, or an emotion. But it can never instantiate it. It doesn't matter how many trillions of parameters you add or how much compute you burn. You cannot mathematically compute your way into a subjective experience. The implications of this are massive. And deeply convenient for the companies building these models. If an AI is structurally incapable of consciousness, it cannot be a moral patient. It doesn't get rights. It cannot be exploited. It can be regulated exactly like a toaster.

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