Mind in the Machine? Cross-Disciplinary Perceptions of Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

As AI systems increasingly display human-like behavior, people often attribute consciousness to these machines, raising questions about anthropomorphism, ethics, and design. We report findings from an online survey (N=553), including academics from the formal sciences, natural sciences, humanities, and a heterogeneous group of other participants. Respondents evaluated perceptions of consciousness in large language models and future AI, alongside related ethical and policy considerations. The results show that, across groups, around half of the participants attributed some degree of consciousness. Individual traits such as gender, academic position, and beliefs regarding consciousness and intelligence of systems strongly shape perceptions, outweighing the effects of technical knowledge or system transparency. Beyond shaping academic discussions, these perspectives inform how AI is designed, governed, and integrated into everyday interactions.