Startseite
Podcasts
Giants Shoulder Podcast
#92 Joscha Bach: “The Nature Of Reality is Even Weirder Than We Previously Thought”

#92 Joscha Bach: “The Nature Of Reality is Even Weirder Than We Previously Thought”

Giants Shoulder vor 8 Monaten

0:00

1:58:21

Joscha Bach is a cognitive scientist, AI researcher, and
philosopher of mind whose work has shaped how we think about
synthetic consciousness and the architecture of thought itself.

He developed the MicroPsi cognitive architecture, has held
research roles at MIT and Harvard, and just co-founded the
California Institute of Machine Consciousness with Karl Friston —
a lab dedicated to building minds that know they exist.

Expect to learn how emotions are compressed value functions for
simulated agents, how brains create recursive world models to
predict and control experience, why the self might just be a
stabilizing hallucination, how synthetic minds could surpass
biological ones, why Joscha sees spirits as information
processes, and how consciousness might emerge anywhere complex
systems learn to model themselves.

We also explore the implications of Michael Levin’s work, the
ethics of synthetic selves, why nature is already computational,
and what’s truly at the bedrock of reality. This conversation is
strange, deep, and unforgettable.

Timestamps:00:00 Journey into Consciousness and AI

02:59 The Intersection of Neuroscience and AI

05:52 Understanding Consciousness: A Second Order Perception

08:53 Consciousness: An Evolved Property or Fundamental Reality?

12:03 The Concept of Spirit in Consciousness

14:56 Exploring Consciousness in Non-Brain Systems

18:00 The Nature of Consciousness in Organisms

21:12 The Role of Software in Consciousness

23:52 The Potential of Xenobots and Consciousness

37:06 Emergence of Artificial Life

40:12 The Nature of Consciousness

43:56 Comparing Consciousness Across Species

46:58 The Role of Social Structures in Consciousness

54:39 Biological Ingredients for Consciousness

01:10:55 Building Conscious AI

01:16:38 Exploring Ethical Constraints in AI Experiments

01:18:11 The Nature of Consciousness in AI

01:22:18 Comparing Consciousness: LLMs vs. Xenobots

01:24:19 The Binary Nature of Consciousness

01:27:01 Agency vs. Consciousness: A Complex Relationship

01:32:34 The Horrors of Conscious Existence

01:37:41 Concerns About AI and Society

01:40:14 The Role of AI in Society's Future

01:46:57 The Urgency of AI Development

01:51:03 The Future of AI and Society...

...

️ Subscribe to our main channel -
https://www.youtube.com/@thegiantsshoulder?sub_confirmation=1
Follow on Spotify -
https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=Ka2rAQv7TyqiC9wvGwERpA
Follow on Apple Podcasts -
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-giants-shoulder/id1752486249Download
my FREE EBook 26 Neuroscience Books for 2026 HERE:
https://thegiantsshoulder.com/