Detecting Unusual Consciousness

DETECTING UNUSUAL CONSCIOUSNESS: FROM BRAIN ORGANOIDS TO AI SYSTEMS

Bonn, 27–28 September 2023 (CEST)

Are some brain organoids, or sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) systems (e.g., ChatGPT 4) conscious? In some cases, it may seem so. But how can we tell? The conference will focus on unusual candidates for consciousness such as isolated hemispheres after split brain or hemispherotomy surgery, brain organoids and advanced AI systems (e.g., ChatGPT). The main aim of the conference is to explore cases and investigate what kind of (traditional or innovative) demarcation criteria could be used to detect whether an entity or
its local states are conscious.

website: www.bordelineconsciousness.com

The Conference will be hybrid.

ZOOM LINK:
https://uni-bonn.zoom-x.de/j/67114759797?pwd=RlpCZVFxaTZqVW5oblFXaDJRREhMUT09
ID: 671 1475 9797
Password: 815983

REGISTRATION: Registration is free. If you want to attend the Conference in person, please contact Charlotte Gauvry: [email protected]

VENUE: University of Bonn (Germany)
Sept 27. IZPH philosophy building: Poppelsdorfer Allee 28
Sept 28. Klinik und Poliklinik für Epileptologie (University Hospital) (University Hospital): Venusberg-Campus 1. Gebaüde C83 

Seminar room Penin (C83.EG-266)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Tim BAYNE, Monash (online)
Jonathan BIRCH, LSE
Marcello MASSIMINI, Milan (online)
Elizabeth SCHECHTER, Maryland

PROGRAMME

SEPTEMBER 27
IZPH philosophy building: Poppelsdorfer Allee 28,
Conference room: last floor

9:30. Opening
9:45-10:45. Uwe Peters, Bonn/Cambridge "Do current evidential standards in the science of consciousness help or hinder the discovery of signs of consciousness?"
10:45-11:45. Wanja Wiese, Bochum "Understanding weak and strong artificial consciousness"
11:45-12:00. Coffee
12:00-13:00. Tim Bayne, Monash TBA (online)

Lunch

14:00-15:00. Sidney Carls-Diamante, Konstanz "Is there something it is like to be an octopus arm?"
15:00-16:00. Sarah Diner, Bonn "Preautionary discourse on brain organoids: in search of surrogate markers for consciousness"
16:00-16:15. Coffee
16:15-17:15. Jonathan Birch, LSE "When is a brain organoid a sentience candidate?"

SEPTEMBER 28
Klinik und Poliklinik für Epileptologie (University Hospital): Venusberg-Campus 1. Gebaüde C83 
Seminar room Penin (C83.EG-266)

9:30-10:30. Maxence Gaillard, Oslo/ UCLouvain "Consciousness assessment in brain organoids by global and local theories of consciousness"
10:30-11:30. Charlotte Gauvry/ Theodor Rüber, Bonn "Intact functional brain networks provide evidence for consciousness in the isolated hemisphere in people with hemispherotomy"
11:30-11:45. Coffee
11:45-12:45.  Nurida Boddenberg, Bonn "Signatures of Consciousness: Analyzing Experimental Traces in the Isolated Hemisphere Post-Hemispherotomy to Unravel the Phenomenon"

Lunch

14:00-15:00. Marcello Massimi, Milan "Electrophysiological strategies to infer consciousness in isolated brains" (online)
15:00-15:15. Coffee
15:15-16:15. Elizabeth Schechter, Maryland "Hemispherectomy and Candidate Conscious Beings After Split-brain Surgery"

The projects is funded by the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) “Individuals, Institutions and Societies” (University of Bonn) as part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state government.