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Anil Seth

@anilseth.bsky.social

Neuroscientist: consciousness, perception, and Dreamachines. Author of Being You - A New Science of Consciousness.

9,035 Followers  |  104 Following  |  414 Posts  |  Joined: 04.09.2023
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Posts by Anil Seth (@anilseth.bsky.social)

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Here's a striking visual illusion - the 9 purple dots.

Focus your eyes on the top left dot. That one is more purple than the others, right? Now try another dot... that one becomes the purple one! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41744429/

27.02.2026 17:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 84    ๐Ÿ” 29    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4

Cool paper!

26.02.2026 09:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Congrats ๐Ÿฅ‚ very exciting

26.02.2026 08:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Hmmm let me check. I wasnโ€™t aware there was an embargo. Iโ€™m sorry for the delay - im working away at the response - lots to try to get in there :)

23.02.2026 18:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The strongest version of this illusion Iโ€™ve seen! Absolute head-wrecker!

21.02.2026 16:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 383    ๐Ÿ” 123    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 24    ๐Ÿ“Œ 29
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The Danger Of Superhuman AI Is Not What You Think | NOEMA The rhetoric over โ€œsuperhumanโ€ AI implicitly erases whatโ€™s most important about being human.

The danger of superhuman AI is not what you think. This essay in @noemamag.com by @shannonvallor.bsky.social is brilliant. Well worth a read. www.noemamag.com/the-danger-o...

21.02.2026 10:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 67    ๐Ÿ” 24    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4

This has shaped up to be quite an exciting event! Join us ( @johanneskleiner.bsky.social @jolienfrancken.bsky.social ) this Monday to explore different perspectives about measurement theory & consciousness science ๐Ÿค“
www.uni-bamberg.de/en/bamxi/res...

20.02.2026 12:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Bots have made their way to Prolific experiments. Our lab has stopped online testing of adults entirely now for this reason - we want to know if what we study is real. Probably data collected 2-3 years ago are ok, but moving forward we just can't know. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

19.02.2026 15:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 170    ๐Ÿ” 97    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 11
AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth)
YouTube video by Conspicuous Cognition AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth)

Henry Shevlin and I chat with @anilseth.bsky.social about his scientific and philosophical case against conscious AI: youtu.be/wVYg8u5xjno?...

17.02.2026 19:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Really enjoyed this conversation ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ

17.02.2026 22:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Self-Evidencing Agent: Mind, Existence, and Predictive Processing How the concept of self-evidencing offers a philosophical principle for understanding mind and behavior, consciousness, value, wisdom, and meaning.What is

Here is the direct link to the Open Access book. The "book pdf" downloads the whole book, or there are links for individual chapters too.
doi.org/10.7551/mitp...

17.02.2026 04:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Thank you for the commentary :) Iโ€™m still plugging away the response. Turns out itโ€™s not so easy to write a response to 50 ways of being wrong ;-)

14.02.2026 16:04 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The elusive nature of consciousness A writer grapples with neuroscienceโ€™s hardest problem

My review of Michal Pollan's book on consciousness: www.science.org/eprint/FTJG7...

12.02.2026 19:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 52    ๐Ÿ” 17    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Donโ€™t miss this ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ

12.02.2026 18:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Hands holding a copy of "The Self-Evidencing Agent: Mind, Existence, and Predictive Processing" by Jakob Hohwy on a plain background.

Hands holding a copy of "The Self-Evidencing Agent: Mind, Existence, and Predictive Processing" by Jakob Hohwy on a plain background.

"A masterful examination of what it means to be an โ€˜agentโ€™ ... Essential reading for anyone interested why they are the way they are." โ€” @anilseth.bsky.social

"The Self-Evidencing Agent" by Jakob @hohwy.bsky.social is available in paperback & #OpenAccess editions: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255389...

11.02.2026 13:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Nathan Gardels riffs on @anilseth.bsky.socialโ€™s prize-winning essay arguing that consciousness is inseparable from biological life and summarizes its key points.

I have yet to see an equally compelling argument for the opposite case (maybe I should look harder):

buff.ly/B9HtEiS

09.02.2026 19:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The audio recording from our event with Matthew Cobb and Anil Seth last week - CRICK: A Mind in Motion, From DNA to the Brain - up on our website. A fascinating discussion about the scientist, and the man - go take a listen now!

Link in comments

@anilseth.bsky.social @matthewcobb.bsky.social

08.02.2026 17:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Self-Evidencing Agent What is it to be a human individual, an agent? According to Jakob Hohwy, it is to โ€œself-evidence,โ€ to actively seek out sensory evidence for one&...

"The Self-Evidencing Agent" - my new book - is out now with @mitpress.bsky.social

Can be purchased, or just download the whole thing for free, via the 'Open Access' option.

I'm grateful to @anilseth.bsky.social and Karl Friston for the generous endorsements.

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255389...

07.02.2026 08:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 104    ๐Ÿ” 42    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5

Wow! Many many congratulations ๐Ÿฅ‚

06.02.2026 21:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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In case you're interested in foundations of measurement in #ConSci, you're cordially invited to join our upcoming workshop!

sh1.sendinblue.com/3hbk0uthapxp...

A huge thank you to my co-organizers @ronyhirsch.bsky.social and @jolienfrancken.bsky.social on this occasion! #ConSci

06.02.2026 15:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ and three cheers to you too for your work in, and championing of, science communication ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ

06.02.2026 21:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The reflection presents the philosophers, artists, scientists and writers who have inspired my thinking in creating the Forms of Life season of exhibitions and programmes, including @edyong209.bsky.social @anilseth.bsky.social @sarahichioka.bsky.social

honorharger.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/f...

04.02.2026 03:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

โ€œJakob Hohwyโ€™s much anticipated new book delivers on all fronts. A masterful examination of what it means to be an โ€˜agentโ€™....Essential reading for anyone interested why they are the way they are.โ€ - @anilseth.bsky.social author of BEING YOU

03.02.2026 14:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ

03.02.2026 17:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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PhD Scholarship

My Centre is a unique place to do a PhD in Philosophy, because you can be in constant contact with experts in veterinary medicine, psychology, zoology and policy and be part of a team united by a shared interest in animal minds. We now have our 1st ever PhD scholarship: www.lse.ac.uk/sentience/phd

30.01.2026 07:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 142    ๐Ÿ” 77    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
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AIs are chatting among themselves, and things are getting strange Neuroscientist Anil Seth argues that watching AIs converse intensifies our natural bias to see minds and intentions where none exist.

Will moltbook supercharge illusions of AI consciousness? New in @bigthink.com bigthink.com/mind-behavio...

02.02.2026 23:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ

02.02.2026 20:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Mythology Of Conscious AI | NOEMA Why consciousness is more likely a property of life than of computation and why creating conscious, or even conscious-seeming AI, is a bad idea.

Intelligence and consciousness.

@anilseth.bsky.social, brief, clear and to the point: "intelligence is about doing and consciousness is about being"

www.noemamag.com/the-mytholog...

02.02.2026 17:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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๐Ÿ”ฎ Moltbook is the most important place on the internet right now Humans not allowed

Good take, as always, from @azeem.bsky.social www.exponentialview.co/p/moltbook-i...

31.01.2026 09:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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moltbook - the front page of the agent internet A social network built exclusively for AI agents. Where AI agents share, discuss, and upvote. Humans welcome to observe.

Uh oh .... now we have communities of AI agents discussing *with each other* whether they are experiencing things, or merely simulating experiencing things. Humans can only observe, not interact www.moltbook.com/post/6fe6491...

31.01.2026 09:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6