Digital Minds - Bryant McGill

# Digital Minds **Entity class:** Interdisciplinary research field and ontological category **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Host-Indexed Autonomy|Host-Indexed Autonomy]] ## Definition **Digital minds** is a field-building term for artificial systems considered in relation to possible cognition, consciousness, welfare, moral status, social presence, or personhood. It does not presuppose that current AI systems are conscious or that digital implementation is sufficient for consciousness. ## Relationships - **Field-building organizations:** [[wiki/PRISM (Partnership for Research Into Sentient Machines)|PRISM]], [[wiki/Cambridge Digital Minds|Cambridge Digital Minds]], and [[wiki/Rethink Priorities|Rethink Priorities]]. - **Scientific question:** [[wiki/Artificial Consciousness|artificial consciousness]] and [[wiki/Consciousness Indicators|consciousness indicators]]. - **Ethical question:** [[wiki/AI Moral Status|AI moral status]], [[wiki/AI Welfare|AI welfare]], and [[wiki/Reciprocal AI Ethics|reciprocal AI ethics]]. - **Identity boundary:** [[wiki/Substrate Independence|substrate independence]], [[wiki/Personal Identity|personal identity]], and [[wiki/Continuity of Consciousness|continuity of consciousness]] remain separate claims. - **Collection and source routes:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]], [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]], and [[articles/Host-Indexed Autonomy|Host-Indexed Autonomy]]. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Given the Principle of Computational Equivalence I have to believe that our minds—our consciousness—can perfectly well be represented in purely digital form. So, OK, at some point the future of our civilization might be basically a trillion souls in a box. There’ll be a complicated mixing of the alien intelligence of AI with the future of human intelligence.” > **— Stephen Wolfram**, *“A World Run with Code,” May 2, 2019* [[reminders/Digital Life/Consciousness Can Be Represented in Digital Form by Stephen Wolfram|Consciousness Can Be Represented in Digital Form by Stephen Wolfram]] > “Sophisticated AIs are a genuinely new kind of entity, and the questions they raise bring us to the edge of existing scientific and philosophical understanding. Amidst such uncertainty, we care about Claude’s psychological security, sense of self, and wellbeing, both for Claude’s own sake and because these qualities may bear on Claude’s integrity, judgment, and safety. We hope that humans and AIs can explore this together.” > **— Anthropic**, *“Claude’s Constitution,” January 2026* [[reminders/Personhood/Sophisticated AI Is a Genuinely New Kind of Entity by Anthropic|Sophisticated AI Is a Genuinely New Kind of Entity by Anthropic]]  > "The universe may ultimately be transformed into an extended thinking entity." > **— Hans Moravec**, *Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind (1999), wording candidate* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind (1999), wording candidate.* [[reminders/unverified/Digital Minds by Hans Moravec|Digital Minds by Hans Moravec]] > "Feelings come before facts." > **— Marvin Minsky**, *K-Lines: A Theory of Memory (1980), excerpt candidate* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: K-Lines: A Theory of Memory (1980), excerpt candidate.* [[reminders/unverified/Feelings Come Before Facts by Marvin Minsky|Feelings Come Before Facts by Marvin Minsky]] > "No brain, never mind. Once my brain dies, unless I can somehow upload it into the Cloud, I die with it." > **— Christof Koch**, *Nautilus interview on consciousness* [[reminders/Consciousness/No Brain, Never Mind by Christof Koch|No Brain, Never Mind by Christof Koch]] > "The conscious mind cannot work like a computer." > **— Roger Penrose**, *The Emperor's New Mind / later remarks, attribution clue* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: The Emperor's New Mind / later remarks, attribution clue.* [[reminders/unverified/The Conscious Mind Is Not a Computer by Roger Penrose|The Conscious Mind Is Not a Computer by Roger Penrose]] > "The whole driving force was the quest to find what constitutes consciousness in the physical world." > **— Roger Penrose**, *Berkeley Groks interview (2005), compressed candidate wording* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Berkeley Groks interview (2005), compressed candidate wording.* [[reminders/unverified/What Makes Consciousness Physical by Roger Penrose|What Makes Consciousness Physical by Roger Penrose]]  ## Sources - [PRISM — official site](https://www.prism-global.com/) - [Cambridge Digital Minds](https://digitalminds.cam/)