Could Artificial Intelligence Ever Achieve Consciousness?

During my study software engineering, I was captivated by the work of Douglas Hofstadter. His book Gödel, Escher, Bach wasn’t just a masterful exploration of logic and art—it was an invitation to question intelligence, consciousness, and the nature of the self. At the same time, I found myself studying early neural networks, at their ability to simulate the processes of the human brain. Back then, I asked myself the central question: could a machine ever truly think or become aware of itself? Decades later, this same question remains as relevant as ever, while reflecting on other work I read from authors like Haring, Dawkins, and even Spinoza(!?)...

A Timeless Philosophical Question – Even Before AI

Hofstadter’s question—whether a machine could become self-aware—is no less fascinating today than when he first posed it. Philosophers, biologists, and technologists alike continue to wrestle with the implications of creating a truly intelligent machine. Figures like Richard Dawkins have framed human intelligence itself as a highly sophisticated result of evolutionary processes—a kind of biological machine optimized for survival. This perspective invites a comparison: if our own minds are the product of incremental, mechanical processes, why couldn’t an artificial system, built with similar principles, eventually achieve consciousness?

Dutch philosopher Bas Haring offers a perspective on artificial intelligence, questioning whether AI is truly intelligent or an advanced imitation. In his books, he emphasizes that AI can simplify our lives but also challenges us to consider its long-term implications. Will algorithms begin to dictate our decisions? How will we feel when machines surpass us in capability? These questions resonate with the discussions around AI today, reinforcing the importance of keeping a "human in the loop" to ensure technology serves us, rather than the other way around.

I wondered how Spinoza would think about this. Spinoza believed that everything in nature is governed by natural laws. In his ethics, he emphasized that human freedom arises from understanding and control. AI, as a human creation, can be seen as a continuation of these natural laws, where technology is a logical outcome of human creativity and science. Our relationship with AI should be based on understanding how it works and how it affects our lives, rather than on blind trust or fear.

At Eraneos, you might think how this philosophical curiosities resonates with practical challenges. But we tackle them every day. While consciousness in machines may remain speculative, the power of AI to transform how businesses operate is here today. In our projects, we see how AI-driven insights improve data quality, enhance productivity, and unlock entirely new efficiencies. These advancements, show the remarkable potential of AI systems built to mimic the aspects of human intelligence.

The Myth of Self-Aware AI

The idea of AI achieving self-awareness is unease. A machine capable of understanding itself, making decisions, and forming subjective experiences, is not longer just science fiction. This possibility isn’t a technical challenge; it’s a philosophical one. What is consciousness, after all? Is it merely a byproduct of complexity, or something deeper and more elusive? These are the questions that have haunted me over 30 years now.

The Reality of Progress

Current research shows that we’re still far from creating a conscious AI. Recent findings suggest that AI’s rapid progress is slowing. The limitations of scaling laws—the idea that larger models with more data produce better results—are becoming apparent. Simply making models bigger no longer guarantees improvement.

This issue is a shortage of high-quality data. For AI to advance, it needs vast amounts of diverse, accurate information. But this essential resource is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. This resonates with what we see in business applications: the quality and accessibility of data often determine the success of AI initiatives. At Eraneos, much of our work focuses on improving these fundamentals, helping organizations unlock the value hidden in their data by ensuring it is accurate, relevant, and usable. These efforts lead to immediate benefits—streamlined operations, enhanced decision-making, and higher productivity.

But What Is Intelligence, Anyway?

I’ve written in other articles before about AI as just “applied statistics.” The "I" in AI doesn’t have much to do with true intelligence. The "human in the loop" remains a crucial element in the AI projects we do at Eraneos, ensuring that accurate and reliable results are achieved through maintained oversight and control.

Underlying these technical challenges is a deeper philosophical question: what do we mean by "intelligence"? Biologists like Dawkins suggest that intelligence, in humans and other animals, can be understood as an advanced form of problem-solving, evoltion by millions of years. From this perspective, our minds are not different from machines—they’re just made of neurons instead of silicon. If this is true, then building an artificial intelligence that mirrors our own might be less about achieving the impossible and more about replicating nature’s blueprint.

But this view isn’t accepted by everyone. Some argue that intelligence and consciousness are more than computational abilities—they are tied to the richness of subjective experience, the sense of being. Can a machine, no matter how advanced, ever experience the world as we do? Or is consciousness something that arises spontaneously if we reach the right level of complexity?

The Road Ahead: Creating Consciousness

What’s clear is that creating a conscious machine will require more than just scaling up current technologies. It demands a rethinking of how we design, train, and interact with AI. Innovations in hardware, algorithms, and data will all be critical. Equally important is the philosophical work: refining our understanding of what consciousness is and how we might recognize it in something fundamentally non-human.

For now, the practical focus remains on solving real-world problems today. At Eraneos, our AI projects do not directly deal with questions of consciousness, but they do reflect the incredible power of intelligent systems to transform industries. From predictive analytics that prevent supply chain disruptions to machine learning models that optimize energy consumption, we see daily how AI reshapes what’s possible. These advances don’t just drive business value—they remind us of the immense potential in building systems that extend human capabilities.

A Long Journey Still—And Keeping Humans in the Loop

To reflect on my early days studying Hofstadter’s work, I’m struck by how much has changed. Back then, neural networks were in their infancy, and the idea of a self-aware machine seemed far away. Today, our technology is orders of magnitude more powerful, yet the question remains unanswered: can a machine ever truly think?

At Eraneos, we don’t have the answer to Hofstadter’s timeless question, but we see its echoes in the work we do every day. A conscious AI may still be out of reach, but the journey toward it continues to drive innovation and exploration. And just as Hofstadter’s questions inspired me years ago, they remain a powerful reminder that we must keep a human in the loop for now...