Chris Percy: Computational Functionalism, Philosophy, and the Future of AI Consciousness
Chris Percy is Director of the CoSentience Initiative and lead researcher on a grant-funded project investigating artificial consciousness. He has authored academic papers on consciousness published in leading academic journals. His applied AI research includes a patent in machine learning and publications at NeurIPS workshops, and the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence. He holds visiting research affiliations with the Universities of Warwick and Derby in the UK and the Qualia Research Institute in the US.
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Summary
In this episode, Chris outlines his team's research programme and argues that we should take the possibility of artificial consciousness seriously whilst remaining humble about our current understanding. We discuss:
The three convictions driving CoSentience's research: that opinions on consciousness are not fixed, that existing theories must be held to higher standards, and that progress in human neuroscience is ultimately necessary for consensus.
Why expert agreement on computational functionalism is weaker than commonly assumed, and how the field has seen a "pluralisation of perspectives" rather than convergence.
How the causal exclusion argument connects functionalism to epiphenomenalism and illusionism.
The ACTOR framework for evaluating what theories of consciousness need to answer in order to address AI minds.
Evidence from interviews that exposure to philosophical arguments tends to increase uncertainty rather than reinforce existing views.The CFdebate.com quiz and the strongest arguments for and against computational functionalism, including the binding problem and the Church-Turing thesis.
Chris argues that philosophical uncertainty need not paralyse practical decision-making, and that a well-informed community can still reach meaningful collective judgements about AI consciousness even without scientific consensus.
Resource List
Chris’s Work
CFdebate.com – Arguments for and against computational functionalism, including the quiz discussed in the episode
The ACTOR Framework – CoSentience's framework for evaluating theories of consciousness
Percy, C. & Gómez-Emilsson, A. (2025). Integrated Information Theory and the Phenomenal Binding Problem: Challenges and Solutions in a Dynamic Framework. Entropy, 27(4), 338.Percy, C. (2025). Can Lists of Requirements Help Consciousness Research Navigate Its Epistemological Quandaries? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 32(1), 186–214.
Related Work
Baars, B. (1988). A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness. Cambridge University Press.
Baars, B. (1997). In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind. Oxford University Press.
Chalmers, D. (1995). Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia. In T. Metzinger (ed.), Conscious Experience.
Chalmers, D. (1996). The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Oxford University Press.
Colombo, M. & Piccinini, G. (2023). The Computational Theory of Mind. Cambridge University Press.
Dehaene, S. (2014). Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts. Viking.
Frankish, K. (2016). Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 23(11–12).
Kim, J. (1998). Mind in a Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation. MIT Press.
Putnam, H. (1960). Minds and Machines. In S. Hook (ed.), Dimensions of Mind. New York University Press.
Revonsuo, A. (1999). Binding and the Phenomenal Unity of Consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition, 8, 173–185.
Tononi, G. (2004). An Information Integration Theory of Consciousness. BMC Neuroscience.
Treisman, A. (1996). The Binding Problem. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 6(2), 171–178.
Watts, P. (2006). Blindsight. Tor Books. [Fiction]
