Consciousness: The old mystery at the heart of the new AI age

Time of India

29-04-2025

Ravi Singh is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who takes a keen interest in technology and philosophy. Before joining the civil services, he has worked in consulting roles with EY and KPMG. He is also a TED speaker and a sports enthusiast. (Views expressed on the blog are personal). LESS ... MORE
As AI surges ahead and concerns grow about machines becoming conscious, the mystery of consciousness has jumped from dusty philosophy books into everyday conversations. Once the private playground of philosophers and mystics, it has now become the greatest unsolved puzzle in science — and perhaps the key to understanding both ourselves and the machines we create.
Consciousness is ever-present, at least during our waking time. It is what accompanies all our subjective experiences – the redness of the sun we experience during a sunset or the unpleasant sound of honking at a traffic signal. Yet, we have absolutely no idea how it works.
The real problem isn't just finding an explanation of how consciousness happens. We don't even know what a good explanation would look like. Australian philosopher David Chalmers captured this perfectly by calling it the 'hard problem of consciousness.'
To understand the 'hard problem,' it's important to grasp the 'easy problems.' Neuroscientists map neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) — brain activities linked to specific experiences. For instance, a toothache activates certain neural circuits in the brain. Despite its name, the 'easy problem' isn't easy, but substantial progress has been made in mapping NCCs in the recent decades.
Back in 1998, renowned neuroscientist Christof Koch and Chalmers made a friendly bet. Koch believed scientists would uncover a specific NCC within 25 years. Chalmers wagered against it. In 2023, Koch conceded defeat, gifting Chalmers a case of fine wine. Koch remarked, 'In twenty-five years, we have mapped the brain, but the mystery of consciousness remains unsolved.'
The 'hard problem' asks — why do brain processes result in subjective experiences like blueness of sky or the joy of watching a sunrise? Knowing which neurons fire when we taste chocolate is one thing, explaining why it tastes delightful is another. A deep 'understanding gap' remains between physical processes and subjective experience.
Modern science approaches this bottom-up, assuming matter is fundamental and consciousness emerges from it. But thinkers like Philip Goff and B. Alan Wallace challenge this view. They argue consciousness is primary — all knowledge of matter comes through conscious experience. Explaining consciousness through matter might just be circular logic. Roger Penrose, a Nobel Lareate in physics said 'I argue that the phenomenon of consciousness cannot be accommodated within the framework of present-day physical theory.'
So, if studying matter won't reveal consciousness, is understanding it even possible? Thankfully, ancient Indian and Tibetan traditions developed rigorous methods for studying consciousness by turning their attention inward. Over centuries, rich schools of thought have emerged. Two beautiful traditions stand out: Advaita Vedanta and Dzogchen Buddhism.
Advaita Vedanta: Dreaming while awake
Advaita Vedanta teaches that there is only one true reality – pure consciousness, called Brahman. The world around us is like a dream, known as Maya. The individual self, or Atman, is also pure consciousness. According to Advaita, mind or consciousness is the only true reality — a monistic view, unlike dualism, which sees both mind and matter as real.
Modern science is also monistic, but it claims only matter is real. It sees mind as emerging when matter becomes complex, like the brain producing thoughts. Advaita flips this idea, mind comes first, and matter is a projection of mind like dreaming of mountains and rivers. They seem real, but when you wake up, you realize they were just mind-creations.
Imagine dreaming you are standing on a high cliff, heart racing with fear. Upon waking, you realize there was no cliff, only your mind. Similarly, Advaita says the world seems real only until we recognize deeper truth.
Dzogchen Buddhism: Recognizing the Open Sky
The Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism offers a similar but powerful approach. Its goal is recognizing Rigpa — a pristine, sky-like awareness beyond thoughts and perceptions. It is a state where the distinction between subject and object dissolves into oneness. Like Advaita, it is rooted in non-dualism.
Practice of Trekchö ('cutting through rigidity') helps practitioners see mental events as fleeting and transparent. It is considered one of the quickest ways to glimpse non-duality as it aims to cutting through the mental conceptions quickly and recognizing Rigpa. Practices like Samatha (calm abiding) and Vipassana (insight meditation) can help prepare the mind for this direct recognition but they are not necessary.
Thus consciousness can be understood by recognising it through direct experience compared to some intellectual theorization. A scene from The Matrix captures this spirit perfectly. When Neo asks how he will know he is 'The One,' the Oracle tells him, 'Being The One is just like being in love — you just know it.' Renowned consciousness researcher Giulio Tononi echoes the sentiment by saying, 'Consciousness becomes a matter of 'being' rather than 'doing'.'
As machines mimic more and more of our behaviour, the risk is not just that we build conscious robots but that we forget what it truly means to be conscious ourselves. In a world rushing forward on the wheels of AI, perhaps the ancient quest to understand consciousness is not a relic of the past but a survival guide for the future. To know consciousness, not just study it, but live it, may turn out to be our greatest act of wisdom.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.