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The latest Signal & Noise article, “Is AI Alive?”, is here. Read: Is AI Alive?
AI can reason, create, solve problems, and increasingly behave like a human. But does that mean it’s alive—or even conscious? In this thought-provoking piece, Rio Longacre explores one of the biggest philosophical questions of the AI era, drawing on neuroscience, philosophy, and theories of consciousness to examine the difference between intelligence and subjective experience. From the Turing Test to the mysteries of the human mind, the article challenges the growing assumption that increasingly intelligent machines will inevitably become conscious.
JUST PUBLISHED ARTICLE!
Is AI alive? Can a machine that thinks, reasons, creates, and even appears to have emotions actually be conscious? In his latest Signal & Noise article, Rio Longacre tackles one of the biggest philosophical questions of the AI era: whether artificial intelligence could ever experience the world the way humans do.
It's a thought-provoking exploration of intelligence, consciousness, and what it really means to be human. Drawing on philosophers like Thomas Nagel and David Chalmers, Rio examines the leading theories of consciousness, the difference between simulating an experience and actually having one, and why increasingly sophisticated AI doesn't necessarily mean we're getting closer to creating a conscious machine.
Key takeaways:
Intelligence isn't consciousness. AI can reason, solve problems, and mimic human behavior, but none of that proves there's a subjective experience behind the responses.
We still don't understand consciousness. From the hard problem of consciousness to competing neuroscientific theories, scientists and philosophers haven't agreed on what creates subjective experience—or how we could detect it in a machine.
Scaling intelligence doesn't necessarily create awareness. Rio makes the case that consciousness may involve something fundamentally different from computation, and that simulating human thought isn't the same as experiencing it.
The article ultimately makes a case for a little humility about what we know, skepticism about what AI companies promise, and an unapologetic commitment to Team Human.
Read: Is AI Alive?
NEW PODCAST JUST DROPPED!
What happens when AI makes advertising faster, but not necessarily better? Dr. Thomas Ramsøy, neuroscientist and Founder and CEO of Neurons, joins Signal & Noise correspondent Lucas Longacre, Head of Product at Inlightened, for a special episode recorded at TMRE 2026 in Denver.
Dr. Ramsøy shares a startling statistic: brand and advertising memory has fallen from roughly 30% to just 5%, while consumer attention to ads has dropped to less than two seconds. He explains why generative AI may be accelerating advertising's biggest mistakes, how marketers have become obsessed with speed and vanity metrics, and why neuroscience offers a better way to understand what actually works. Lucas and Thomas also explore how predictive AI can evaluate creative before it launches, helping brands make smarter decisions rather than simply producing more content.
Key takeaways:
Advertising has an attention problem. Consumers are becoming increasingly selective about what they remember, and brands have just seconds to make an impression. More content isn't necessarily the answer.
AI is accelerating production, not necessarily effectiveness. Generative AI makes it easier to create hundreds of variations, but without better evaluation and judgment, marketers risk scaling the same mistakes.
Neuroscience offers a smarter approach. By combining predictive, suggestive, and generative AI, marketers can anticipate attention, emotional response, and brand recall, improving creative before spending millions on media.
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