the-mind
What is happening when you experience a world, feel like a self, or make a choice?
Explore how perception, feelings, selfhood, and consciousness fit together, and what this could mean for AI.
This site offers a plain-language introduction to Joscha Bach and Hikari Sorensen’s The Machine Consciousness Hypothesis, with supporting ideas from Bach’s talks and interviews. It explains the proposed model, the reasoning behind it, and the questions it leaves open.
Start here
Follow the guided explanation from everyday experience to what consciousness might require in a machine.
Explore a question
For a particular question, start with one of these short explanations:
- What is a mind?
- What is consciousness?
- Why do feelings matter?
- What is the self?
- Is free will real?
- Could AI be conscious?
- Do LLMs have qualia?
- Does this kill spirituality?
Sources and context
Start with the original paper: *The Machine Consciousness Hypothesis*, by Joscha Bach and Hikari Sorensen.
Use the glossary for definitions, the claims ledger to distinguish source claims from our interpretations, the source list to follow citations, and further reading for broader context. Citations establish where an explanation comes from, not that a hypothesis is settled science.
This is an independent explanatory project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Joscha Bach.
The earlier, longer treatment remains available in the Archive / V1 / source-grounded thesis.