Can AI ever become conscious?
Whether computers can currently be considered conscious or aware, even to a limited extent, depends largely on the framework used to define awareness and consciousness. For instance, IIT equates consciousness with the capacity for information processing, while the Higher-Order Thought (HOT) theory integrates elements of self-awareness and intentionality into its definition.
This manuscript reviews and critically compares major theories of consciousness, with a particular emphasis on awareness, attention, and the sense of self. By delineating the distinctions between artificial and natural intelligence, it explores whether advancements in AI technologies—such as machine learning and neural networks—could enable AI to achieve some degree of consciousness or develop a sense of agency.
Awareness at the Crossroad of Illusion and the Soul
Awareness and consciousness are often used interchangeably, yet they represent distinct cognitive phenomena. While consciousness is commonly perceived as a state of mind encompassing one’s environment and self, awareness is the subjective experience derived from objective mental processes. This transformation converts sensation into perception, knowledge into knowing, emotion into feeling, and memory into remembering. Despite its undeniable importance, awareness challenges the current physical framework of brain function, sparking debates about its nature. Some scholars argue that awareness is an illusion—an interpretative process of the brain adapted to reality—while others equate it to the immaterial and immortal concept of the soul. This article examines awareness as a cognitive construct within the Trilogy Theory of Consciousness (TTC) and explores its role in processes such as awareness-based choice selection (ABCS). It further differentiates awareness from illusion—a dysfunctional cognitive process—and from the metaphysical notion of the immaterial soul. Finally, it underscores the critical role of awareness in self-reflection and decision-making.
Understanding Consciousness Through a New Lens
This brief essay introduces a new way to understand awareness and consciousness—not just as something our brain does, but as something that exists in a deeper, invisible layer of reality.
The theory is called the Quantum Trilogy Theory of Consciousness (QTTC). It blends ideas from:
Quantum Physics (how particles and energy behave at the smallest scales),
Field Theory (which describes invisible fields like gravity or magnetism),
and a model of the mind called the Trilogy Theory of Consciousness, which breaks human consciousness into three key parts:
Awareness – the ability to perceive
Intention – the drive to choose
Self-reflection – the ability to know oneself (the “I”)
What’s the big idea?
The key idea is that awareness is like a field—just like gravity or light—always present and ready to interact with us. You don’t create awareness in your brain; rather, your mind tunes into this universal field.
From this perspective, your experiences (like thoughts, feelings, or decisions) are not random brain signals. Instead, they are like tiny ripples or waves in this field—each one carrying meaning. The paper introduces a term for these ripples: “noëtons” that is like quantum particles of awareness and is derived from greek word of "noësis" which means "knowing" and "intuition".
How is this related to quantum physics?
QTTC doesn’t say your brain is literally doing quantum calculations. Instead, it borrows the language and structure of quantum theory to explain how awareness might work:
Just like particles can exist in multiple states at once (superposition), we often hold several possibilities in mind before deciding.
When we finally make a decision, we "collapse" those possibilities into a single action—just like how a quantum wave collapses into a known state.
Our intentions, like symmetry breaking in physics, shift the direction of awareness, shaping what we pay attention to.
The self (our sense of "I") forms when awareness becomes structured and focused—similar to how physicists use gauge fixing to organize a field into something measurable.
And finally, transformation of awareness is excitation of the filed and generation of noëton quanta in the universal file of awareness
Why is this important?
This new model opens the door to thinking about consciousness in a whole new way—not as a glitch in the brain, but as a deep interaction between mind and field. It suggests that awareness might be a basic feature of the universe—just like space, time, and energy.
What else does it explore?
It discusses how DNA and microtubules (tiny parts of our cells) might act like antennas, helping our biology "tune in" to the awareness field.
It touches on non-chemical communication between cells, hinting at deeper ways life may interact across space and time.
It doesn’t solve the "Hard Problem of Consciousness" (why we have inner experience), but it offers a new way to look at it.
Final thoughts
The Quantum Trilogy Theory of Consciousness presents a bold idea: that the mind is not just a machine, and awareness is not just a byproduct of the brain. Instead, it may be part of the universe’s deeper structure—one that’s always been there, waiting for us to understand it.