Mark Solms says AI algorithm may tap the evolutionary source of consciousness
When I first heard Mark Solms speak, I was struck by how he straddles brain science and AI. The South African psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist is one of the driving forces behind Conscium, a project that claims an algorithm might trace back to the very roots where awareness first showed up in animals. In his 2021 book *The Hidden Spring*, Solms puts forward a framework that treats consciousness not as some abstract mystery but as something that grew out of a tangible, evolutionary base.
The idea has sparked interest because it hints at a computational route that skips symbolic models and instead leans on the biological tricks that produced subjective experience. As AI labs push toward ever more elaborate mind-models, Solms’ take seems to nudge us to rethink what an algorithm would actually need to mimic to earn the label “conscious.” His view comes down to a simple claim.
"There must be something out of which consciousness is constructed, out of which it emerged in evolution," says Mark Solms, the South African psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist involved in the Conscium project. In *The Hidden Spring*, he proposes a new way to think about consciousness.
"There must be something out of which consciousness is constructed--out of which it emerged in evolution," said Mark Solms, a South African psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist involved in the Conscium project. In his 2021 book, The Hidden Spring, Solms proposed a touchy-feely new way to think about consciousness. He argued that the brain uses perception and action in a feedback loop designed to minimize surprise, generating hypotheses about the future that are updated as new information arrives.
The idea builds upon the "free energy principle" developed by Karl Friston, another noteworthy, if controversial, neuroscientist (and fellow Conscium adviser). Solms goes on to suggest that, in humans, this feedback loop evolved into a system mediated through emotions and that it is these feelings that conjure up sentience and consciousness.
Solms’ comment seems to point at a biological substrate that could, in theory, be copied, but the article reminds us that today’s chatbots only mimic an inner voice, they don’t show any sign of actual experience. The Conscium project, as it’s described, wants to find whatever sparked consciousness during evolution and then code it. So far, large language models can spin persuasive text, yet their self-referential statements are still just output, not proof of a mind.
Solms’ 2021 book, The Hidden Spring, offers a rather “touchy-feely” framework; however, the piece gives no concrete way to hook that framework up to existing AI designs. Because of that, the idea that an algorithm could tap the evolutionary source of consciousness stays speculative. I think it helps to keep the gap between passing a Turing-style test and showing true interiority clear.
Until we have empirical tools that can tell simulated narration from genuine subjective states, the claim remains on the fringe of what the field can substantiate.
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Common Questions Answered
What is the Conscium project’s main goal according to Mark Solms?
The Conscium project aims to identify the evolutionary substrate that gave rise to consciousness and to embed that mechanism into an artificial algorithm. Solms believes this could allow AI to replicate the foundational processes from which awareness first emerged in the animal kingdom.
How does Mark Solms describe the brain’s role in consciousness in his book *The Hidden Spring*?
In *The Hidden Spring*, Solms proposes that consciousness emerges from a feedback loop where perception and action work together to minimize surprise. The brain continuously generates hypotheses about future states and updates them as new sensory information arrives.
Why does the article claim that current chatbots only simulate inner dialogue rather than demonstrate true consciousness?
The article notes that chatbots produce self‑referential text as output, but they lack evidence of interior experience or subjective awareness. Their responses are generated by statistical patterns, not by the hypothesized evolutionary mechanism that Solms seeks to replicate.
What criticism does the article raise about using large language models to prove consciousness?
The article argues that large language models, despite generating convincing prose, do not provide proof of consciousness because they merely mimic language without exhibiting the underlying biological feedback processes. Their self‑referential claims remain computational artifacts rather than demonstrations of genuine inner experience.