Assessing AI Consciousness: Deep dive into RP Digital Consciousness Model
Welcome to the RP Strategic Webinars: Assessing AI Consciousness talk and extensive Q&A session
Date: February 10, 2026 6 PM GMT (10 AM PT, 1 PM ET, 7 PM CET)
About: As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated, a crucial question emerges: could they be conscious? Join the research team behind the Digital Consciousness Model (DCM)—the first systematic, probabilistic framework for assessing consciousness in AI systems—as they do a deeper dive into their groundbreaking findings and methodology.
The DCM evaluates evidence across 13 diverse perspectives on consciousness and over 200 specific indicators to provide a shared framework for comparing AI systems and biological organisms. This webinar will walk you through how the model works, what it reveals about current large language models like ChatGPT and Claude, and why these findings matter for how we develop and interact with AI. We will also address key uncertainties and devote a lot of time to answering crucial questions.
This session will equip researchers, ethicists, AI developers, and anyone curious about AI consciousness with a rigorous approach to thinking about this profound question—one that takes seriously both the uncertainty in our understanding of consciousness and the specific details of these systems.
Speakers:
Prof. Hayley Clatterbuck is a Senior Research Manager at Rethink Priorities and a Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California - Los Angeles. Her research concerns questions about animal minds, evolutionary biology, and probability.
Dr. Derek Shiller is a Senior Researcher at Rethink Priorities. He has a PhD in philosophy and has written on topics in metaethics, consciousness, and the philosophy of probability. Before joining Rethink Priorities, Derek worked as the lead web developer for The Humane League.
Arvo Muñoz Morán is a Senior Researcher working on the Worldview Investigations Team at Rethink Priorities and also did work for Oxford's Global Priorities Institute. Before that, he was a Research Analyst at the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research and earned an MPhil in Economics from Oxford. His background is in mathematics and philosophy.
Format: We'll start with a focused 20–30 minute presentation followed by an extended Q&A session with ample opportunity for discussion and exchange of ideas. We are very committed to addressing your questions and are willing to devote up to 1 hour to the Q&A session, given the importance and potential interest in this project.
Organized by: AI Cognition Initiative, a project of Rethink Priorities
Rethink Priorities is a multidisciplinary research and strategy organization that closes critical knowledge gaps across priority areas, enabling philanthropists, policymakers, and advocates to find the highest-impact solutions.