Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Michael Pollan is the author of A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. Pollan joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether AI can ever become conscious and what that question reveals about the nature of mind. Tune in to hear a nuanced debate about whether consciousness is computable, where today’s LLMs fall short, and how researchers might actually test machine consciousness in the future. We also cover materialism vs. spirituality, the “hard problem” of consciousness, psychedelic experiences, and the emerging science of plant sentience. Hit play for a thoughtful, surprising conversation that brings the AI consciousness debate back down to earth while opening up some of its strangest possibilities.
Chapters:
0:00 Can AI Be Conscious?
1:05 Why Human Consciousness Is So Weird
4:00 Is Consciousness Computable?
9:13 Why the Brain Isn’t Just a Computer
14:00 Information as Reality
22:06 How Do You Test Machine Consciousness?
25:48 The Strange “Conscious AI” Experiment
34:49 Does Consciousness Challenge Materialism?
45:59 Psychedelics and The Consciousness Question
49:46 Are Plants Sentient?
Michael Pollan is the author of A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. Pollan joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether AI can ever become conscious and what that question reveals about the nature of mind. Tune in to hear a nuanced debate about whether consciousness is computable, where today’s LLMs fall short, and how researchers might actually test machine consciousness in the future. We also cover materialism vs. spirituality, the “hard problem” of consciousness, psychedelic experiences, and the emerging science of plant sentience. Hit play for a thoughtful, surprising conversation that brings the AI consciousness debate back down to earth while opening up some of its strangest possibilities.
Chapters:
0:00 Can AI Be Conscious?
1:05 Why Human Consciousness Is So Weird
4:00 Is Consciousness Computable?
9:13 Why the Brain Isn’t Just a Computer
14:00 Information as Reality
22:06 How Do You Test Machine Consciousness?
25:48 The Strange “Conscious AI” Experiment
34:49 Does Consciousness Challenge Materialism?
45:59 Psychedelics and The Consciousness Question
49:46 Are Plants Sentient?
