Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society

The Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society (AIMS) is a multi-disciplinary hub where thought leaders in philosophy, complex systems, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, political science, and other fields come together to analyze vital scientific, societal, and ethical issues.

The Center explores questions like the following:
•  How does machine intelligence compare to human intelligence? And how can these distinct intelligences best work together?
•  What is the nature of the self, mind and consciousness?
•  What are the epistemic strengths and weaknesses of today’s large language models (LLMs)?
•  What will it mean to be human when we all carry the equivalent of a polymath in our pockets?

Our annual conference, MindFest, features thought leaders from academe, business and policy, treating topics central to the future of AI. See the  MindFest 2025 Playlist  created by our partner,  Closer to Truth.

The Center is directed by  Susan Schneider,  the William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor at Florida Atlantic University, former NASA Chair, and Distinguished Scholar at the Library of Congress. Its Associate Director is  Mark Bailey, a Research Affiliate Professor in Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Co-Founder of  DataField Intelligence.   Elan Barenholtz  is the Center's Assistant Director, an associate professor at Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and Co-Director of the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics (MPCR) Lab.

The Center is a collaboration between the  Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters  and the  Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.

Spotlight: Center Activities

The Sun Magazine

Michael Owen - Machine, Learning: Susan Schneider on the Potential for AI Consciousness

Some AIs can already outthink us in certain respects. If they become conscious as well, then we’ll have intellectual rivals that are also conscious beings.

Read morechevron_right

The Economist

Susan Schneider - Don’t mistake chatbot intelligence for consciousness

A new superintelligence may be coming, and it would upend humanity’s hierarchy of moral concern, thinks Susan Schneider.

Read morechevron_right

MindFest 2025

Tam Hunt - General Resonance Theory (GRT) and Field Theories of Consciousness

Tam Hunt discusses GRT, which explores how synchronized oscillations—ranging from the quantum level to whole-brain dynamics—give rise to conscious experience.

Watch videochevron_right

White Paper

Susan Schneider, David Sahner, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Eric Schwitzgebel, & Mark Bailey - "Is AI Conscious? A Primer on the Myths and Confusions Driving the Debate

AI is sparking unprecedented claims about machine minds, but are today’s systems really conscious?

Read morechevron_right

Templeton Idea Podcast

Thomas Burnett & Susan Schneider - The ‘Zombie’ Filter and AI

Dr. Schneider distinguishes consciousness from intelligence, introduces her ACT test as a 'zombie filter' for detecting genuine machine experience, and explores the ethical stakes of getting it wrong.

Watch videochevron_right

Closer To Truth

Mark Bailey - Morality in the Age of AI

Mark Bailey and Robert Lawrence Kuhn discuss the future of morality on Closer To Truth.

Watch videochevron_right

Press Coverage

Talks

Mindfest 2024

Harmut Neven: Consciousness via Quantum Superposition

Conscious moments are generated by the formation of quantum superpositions, challenging traditional views on the origins of consciousness.

Watch videochevron_right

AGI is 5 Years Away!

Ben Goertzel speaking at Center Mindfest 2023

Watch videochevron_right

ChatGPT, Dark Matter, & AI

Stephen Wolfram speaking at Center Mindfest 2023

Watch videochevron_right

Videos

Is Artificial General Intelligence too Dangerous to Build?

Eliezer Yudkowsky discusses his rationale for ceasing the development of Als more sophisticated than GPT-4.

Watch videochevron_right

Towards Neural Nets for Conscious Processing and Causal Reasoning

Yoshua Bengio speaking at Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society

Watch videochevron_right

Hierarchical Consciousness: The Nested Observer Windows Model

Jonathan Schooler presents a framework for understanding consciousness as a hierarchy of information-processing modules integrated through nested rhythms.

Watch videochevron_right

Read the latest issue of MasterMinds Magazine

Learn Morechevron_right

New $26 Million NSF Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes

Read morechevron_right

Read the latest issue of our newsletter

Learn Morechevron_right