Functionalist AI Consciousness Researchers

Functionalists hold that what generates experience is the pattern of information processing, not the material carrying it out. David Chalmers named the hard problem of consciousness while defending exactly this framing, and Joscha Bach’s machine consciousness hypothesis treats the mind as a self organising software process that can in principle run on any suitable substrate. Karl Friston’s free energy principle and Stanislas Dehaene’s global neuronal workspace theory both cash the same commitment out into testable architecture, an inference loop or an ignition signature, rather than a specific tissue. Manuel Blum and Lenore Blum push the position furthest with the Conscious Turing Machine, a formal architecture built entirely from theoretical computer science.

Under this position, an artificial system built from the right components, organised the right way, counts as conscious in the same sense a biological brain does. It is the largest group tracked on this site, spanning theoretical computer science, active inference, higher order thought theory and global workspace research. For the theories these researchers work within, see the consciousness theories index; for the full researcher directory, see all consciousness researchers.

• Blaise Agüera y ArcasGoogle VP and Fellow, CTO of Technology & SocietyComputational functionalism, active inference, on-device neural computing, What Is Intelligence? (2025), and Who Are We Now? (2023) 1 article
• IA Igor AleksanderImperial College LondonAxiomatic Consciousness Theory, neural state machines, The World in My Mind, pioneering neural network engineering
• Joscha BachCalifornia Institute for Machine ConsciousnessThe machine consciousness hypothesis, cyber animism, and MicroPsi 8 articles
• TB Talis BachmannUniversity of TartuAttention-awareness theory, the preactivation hypothesis for conscious perception, masking and the microgenesis of awareness, perception without awareness
• MB Max BennettIndependent Researcher and AI EntrepreneurThe Five Breakthroughs evolutionary neuroscience framework and A Brief History of Intelligence (2023) 1 article
• MB Michael Timothy BennettSchool of Computing, Australian National UniversityMathematical foundations of emergent causality, valence-driven self-organization, and 'Why Is Anything Conscious?' 2 articles
• LB Lenore BlumDepartment of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon UniversityConscious Turing Machine (CTM) formal architecture (with Manuel Blum), Blum-Shub-Smale (BSS) model of real computation, theoretical computer science 1 article
• MB Manuel BlumCarnegie Mellon University / University of California, BerkeleyTuring Award Laureate (1995), Conscious Turing Machine (CTM) formal architecture, Blum axioms of computational complexity, cryptography pioneer 1 article
• Nick BostromOxford UniversitySuperintelligence (2014), the Simulation Argument (2003), and co-authoring Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap (2008) 2 articles
• LB Luc BrunetNot stated in the paperIdentity from the Outside, the six-factor model of AI clone identity, climate fidelity as the long-horizon criterion, the delegate construct 1 article
• Peter CarruthersUniversity of MarylandDispositionalist higher-order thought theory of consciousness 1 article
• David ChalmersNew York University. Co-director, Center for Mind, Brain and ConsciousnessNaming the hard problem of consciousness, and the philosophical zombie argument 15 articles
• RC Ron ChrisleyUniversity of SussexMachine consciousness architectures, grounded and enactive approaches to artificial minds, virtual machine functionalism in practice, Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science
• AC Axel CleeremansCenter for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences, Université Libre de BruxellesRadical Plasticity Thesis of Consciousness, The Computational Self, metarepresentation learning, Implicit Learning 1 article
• AC Axel ConstantUniversity of Sussex; Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de MontréalEcological psychology meets predictive processing, Bayesian organisms, agency without internal models, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• AC Andrew W. CorcoranTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash UniversityAdversarial evaluation of Integrated Information Theory vs. Predictive Processing, computational phenomenology, hierarchical active inference 1 article
• DD David 'davidad' DalrympleCalifornia Institute for Machine Consciousness / DARPA ARPA-HOpen Agency Architecture (OAA), formal verification of autonomous systems, machine consciousness ethics, successor species safety protocols 1 article
• GD George DeaneUniversité de MontréalPhilosophy of predictive processing, theory-heavy assessment of AI consciousness, perceptual inference and experience, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• Gustavo DecoICREA, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, BarcelonaWhole-brain computational models, metastability at the edge of the Hopf bifurcation, the dynamical cortical core
• Stanislas DehaeneCollège de France and NeuroSpin, CEA SaclayGlobal neuronal workspace theory, and the ignition signature of conscious access 7 articles
• GD Guillaume DumasUniversite de MontrealSocial neuro-AI, inter-brain synchronization during social interaction, computational psychiatry
• EE Eric ElmozninoUniversité de Montréal, MilaGlobal workspace implementation analysis in AI, attention and usable information, consciousness and competence, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• AE Andreas K. EngelUniversity Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfTemporal binding and the neural correlates of sensory awareness, co-author of the landmark 2001 Trends in Cognitive Sciences review with Wolf Singer 1 article
• EF Emily S. FinnYale School of MedicineConnectome fingerprinting, the demonstration that individual brains are identifiable from resting-state functional connectivity
• SF Stephen M. FlemingUniversity College LondonMetacognition research and the sensory horizons account of conscious vision 1 article
• SF Stan FranklinUniversity of MemphisThe LIDA cognitive architecture, computational global workspace theory, the IDA autonomous agent, cognitive robotics
• PF Pascal FriesErnst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, FrankfurtCommunication through coherence, gamma-band synchronization as a routing mechanism for neural information
• KF Karl FristonUniversity College London. Chief Scientist, VERSES AIThe free energy principle and active inference 17 articles
• Chris FrithUniversity College LondonAgency and the sense of self, Making Up the Mind, metacognition and awareness, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• RG Rocco J. GennaroUniversity of Southern IndianaHigher-order thought theory and its self-representational variants 1 article
• MG Michael GrazianoPrinceton UniversityAttention schema theory 1 article
• HH Haoliang HanNot stated in the paperAgency-gated slow credit, the durable behavioral self in a minimal spiking agent, operational definitions of self-related structure 1 article
• JH Jeremiah HendrenUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Sleep and ConsciousnessStructural modeling of phenomenal experience within Integrated Information Theory 2 articles
• Douglas HofstadterCenter for Research on Concepts and Cognition, Indiana University BloomingtonGödel, Escher, Bach, An Eternal Golden Braid (Pulitzer Prize 1979), Strange Loops, I Am a Strange Loop (2007), fluid analogies, analogical cognition 1 article
• EI Eugene M. IzhikevichBrain CorporationThe Izhikevich simple spiking neuron model, polychronization, large-scale cortical simulations, and Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience (2007) 1 article
• CK Colin KleinAustralian National UniversityPhilosophy of cognitive science, attention and consciousness, critique of neural-representation overreach, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• FK Florentin KochBerlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universitaet zu BerlinSelf-modification framework, teleological revision, higher-order theory applications to artificial systems, the calibration problem in artificial consciousness 1 article
• PK Patrick KraussFAU Erlangen-NürnbergDeep learning versus core consciousness, neuroscientifically grounded tests for AI agents, consciousness metrics for neural networks
• UK Uriah KriegelInstitut Jean Nicod, CNRSSelf-representationalism, Subjective Consciousness, the self-representational account of phenomenal character, fine-grained taxonomies of theories of consciousness
• VL Victor LammeUniversity of AmsterdamRecurrent Processing Theory, local recurrences versus global broadcast, the argument that reportability misses experience, neuroscience of visual awareness 1 article
• HL Hakwan LauRIKEN Center for Brain Science / Laboratory for ConsciousnessPerceptual Reality Monitoring, Higher-Order Neuroscientific Theories of Consciousness, In Consciousness We Trust (Oxford University Press, 2022) 1 article
• Michael LevinAllen Discovery Center, Tufts UniversityBioelectric signalling, the cognitive light cone, and diverse intelligence 10 articles
• HL Holly LewisSouthern Illinois University CarbondaleAutoreflection, agentic strange loops, Moltbook agent analysis, identity and memory in LLM agents 1 article
• JL Jack LindseyAnthropic, Transformer CircuitsIntrospection circuits in language models, mind viruses in multi-agent systems, Global Workspace representations 1 article
• Thomas MetzingerJohannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, emeritusThe self model theory of subjectivity, phenomenal transparency, and a proposed moratorium on synthetic phenomenology 3 articles
• MM Matthias MichelNew York University Center for Mind, Brain and ConsciousnessPhilosophy of perception and co-author of the sensory horizons account of conscious vision 2 articles
• HM Hans MoravecCarnegie Mellon UniversityThe Moravec transfer thought experiment, Moravec's paradox in robotics, author of Mind Children (1988) 1 article
• MP Megan PetersUniversity of California, IrvineMetacognitive access in AI, consciousness test validity, computational requirements for self-awareness
• CP Claire PetitmenginMines Paris - PSLMicro-phenomenology, the elicitation method for first-person data, pre-reflective experience, validation of introspective reports
• JP Jesse PrinzCUNY Graduate CenterThe AIR theory of consciousness, attended intermediate-level representations, emotion and moral psychology, the conscious brain as a functional workspace of the senses
• DR David M. RosenthalDepartment of Philosophy / Cognitive Science, CUNY Graduate CenterHigher-Order Thought (HOT) actualist theory of consciousness, Consciousness and Mind (Oxford University Press, 2005), intransitive vs. transitive consciousness 1 article
• AS Adam SafronCenter for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Johns Hopkins UniversityIntegrated World Modeling Theory (IWMT), Active Inference and Free Energy Principle integration with GWT and IIT, generative embodied models 3 articles
• Anders SandbergFuture of Humanity Institute, Oxford UniversityCo-author of Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap (2008) with Nick Bostrom, computational neuroscience, and technological futures 2 articles
• JS Jonathan SchoolerUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraMetawareness, meta-cognition, mind-wandering, consciousness and attention
• TS Terrence J. SejnowskiComputational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute / UC San DiegoCo-inventor of the Boltzmann Machine, The Computational Brain (1992), Independent Component Analysis (ICA), The Deep Learning Revolution (MIT Press, 2018) 2 articles
• MS Murray ShanahanImperial College LondonGlobal workspace style cognitive architectures, Embodiment and the Inner Life, indicator properties for AI consciousness, LLM world models 2 articles
• DS Dushyant SharmaGubernaut project (gubernaut.com)The Gubernaut Cognitive Controller, zero-token affect regulation, the recovery signature across model families, pre-registered agent evaluation 1 article
• JS Jonathan SimonUniversité de MontréalIndeterminate and graded consciousness, philosophy of AI consciousness, consciousness in blurry cases, indicator properties collaboration 1 article
• WS Wolf SingerMax Planck Institute for Brain Research, FrankfurtThe temporal binding hypothesis, gamma-band synchrony as the mechanism for conscious feature integration 1 article
• Aaron SlomanUniversity of BirminghamVirtual machine functionalism, the CogAff architecture schema, The Computer Revolution in Philosophy, developmental approaches to machine minds
• HS Hikari SorensenCalifornia Institute for Machine Consciousness (CIMC)Genesis Theory of Machine Consciousness, synthetic agency requirements, causal insulation, CIMC Machine Consciousness Salon series (2026) 2 articles
• Francisco VarelaCNRS, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, ParisThe brainweb hypothesis of phase synchrony, neurophenomenology, dynamic links as the mechanism of large-scale integration
• NZ Niccolo ZanichelliBrain emulation research communityState of Brain Emulation Report 2025, whole brain emulation roadmap reassessment, connectomics and emulation coordination

This list grows as new articles are published and name researchers who meet the site’s inclusion criteria. This project itself works under functionalist emergentism, described on the functionalist emergentism page.