​Minimum Viable Consciousness

​Part philosophical eepdive, part build session and part living research lab.

​Presented by Mind, AI & Consciousness, a BC + AI Ecosystem Association community

​MAC Lab 001 launches a new MAC format alongside the Deepdives. Same community, same two hour in person container, same seriousness about mind, AI, and consciousness. The difference is intent. This one is built to make something, not only to discuss it.

​The first experiment is Minimum Viable Consciousness.

​Together we build an adversarial assessment filter for consciousness theories.

​The goal is not to decide which theory wins.

​The goal is a practical way to test what any theory must explain, where it breaks under pressure, and what better questions surface when a group builds the filter together.

​​Our Focus

• ​What distinguishes human cognition from AI

• ​How we define and understand consciousness

• ​Philosophical frameworks for understanding the human mind in relation to AI

• ​Questions about AI consciousness and its implications

​​Who Should Join

​You should already be a member of the MAC chat group. If you are not, you may request invitation from mac@noocore.com

​​Format

​We hold focused 2-hour "deep dive" discussions as well as 2-hour "workshop" development events that combine structure with organic exploration.

​Members are expected to prepare through advance readings, exploration, and actively participate.

​​About Mind, AI & Consciousness

​Mind, AI & Consciousness (MAC) is a reading-and-discussion group born from organic conversations in the Vancouver AI community.

​We use what's happening in AI as a lens on an older question: what consciousness actually is, and what if anything separates a human mind from a machine that acts like one.

​Each month we pick a hard text and go deep. Panpsychism, free will, Integrated Information Theory, quantum theories of mind, embodiment, the limits of science itself... serious questions, taken seriously, with no requirement that anyone agree.

​About BC + AI

​BC + AI is the province-wide layer: a community-driven, nonprofit industry association built to create public-interest infrastructure for AI in British Columbia.

​Not a corporate lobby. Not a think tank. A commons where meetups turn into working groups, prototypes turn into shared tools, and community values turn into governance.

​Vancouver AI was just the start. The ecosystem keeps growing across BC: Surrey, Victoria, Kelowna, and beyond, each node bringing its own culture, needs, and experiments.

​Join or support: bc-ai.ca/membership

​Plug Into The Bigger Organism

​Other upcoming events in the community live at luma.com/vancouver-ai.