Susan Schneider

This panel will explore the computability of consciousness and whether artificial intelligence can ever be conscious. Bringing together perspectives from neuroscience, philosophy, physics, and computer science, the discussion will examine whether conscious experience can be fully explained by computation or whether it depends on processes that cannot be captured by algorithms. The panel will also consider how consciousness in AI could be defined, tested, and recognized, as well as the ethical, societal, and public policy implications of potentially conscious AI, including questions of moral status, responsibility, and governance. Susan Schneider will contribute her perspective on the philosophical and ethical questions surrounding machine consciousness, including how consciousness in artificial systems might be identified and evaluated.

Susan Schneider, PhD, is a philosopher and cognitive scientist specializing in the philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and emerging technologies. She is the William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Florida Atlantic University and the founding director of its Center for the Future of AI, Mind and Society. She previously held the NASA Baruch Blumberg Chair at the Library of Congress and NASA and directed the AI, Mind and Society Group at the University of Connecticut. Schneider is the author of Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind, which examines machine consciousness, intelligence, personal identity, and the ethical implications of designing artificial minds.