C-test Workshop

Recent advances in artificial intelligence, animal sentience, and brain organoid research have brought the question of how to detect consciousness to the forefront. Determining whether animals, machines, or other systems are conscious has major scientific and practical implications, influencing ethical decision-making and policy. One promising approach to this challenge is the development of consciousness tests (C-tests), empirically grounded methods for detecting consciousness across diverse populations. Importantly, C-tests are not necessarily grounded in theories of consciousness, which are still “works in progress” and therefore not sufficiently robust to support secure ascriptions of consciousness. C-tests, instead, offer a data-driven methodology for navigating the uncertainty surrounding consciousness attributions and thus promise to be useful and effective even in the context of vast theoretical disagreement in consciousness science. 

But how do C-tests work? How are they validated? Can they be successfully applied to heterogeneous populations? The goal of this workshop is to survey and critically assess the current state of the art regarding C-tests. While a growing number of proposals have been developed—drawing on behavioral, cognitive, and neurophysiological indicators—there has been relatively little systematic discussion of how these tests relate to one another or what standards they should satisfy. The workshop will therefore bring together researchers from multiple disciplines to examine existing approaches, discuss desiderata for robust C-tests, explore novel research programs, and investigate possible synergies between different methods. At the same time, we aim to foster critical discussion of key challenges, including conceptual ambiguities related to construct validity, risks of anthropocentric bias, and difficulties in validating C-tests independently of theories of consciousness.

The workshop will cover a broad range of topics reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of C-test research. Contributions will address conceptual, methodological, empirical, and practical issues. Discussions will focus on different target systems, including non-human animals, artificial intelligence systems, and brain organoids. By bringing together perspectives from philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and AI, the workshop aims to clarify the emerging landscape of C-tests and stimulate new directions for research.