# Consciousness qua Mortal Computation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.03925 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03925/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 1 of its 11 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 6 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [The Forward-Forward Algorithm: Some Preliminary Investigations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.13345/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Is artificial consciousness achievable? Lessons from the human brain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04540/) (2024)
- [Quantum Hamiltonian Embedding of Images for Data Reuploading Classifiers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.14055/) (2024)
- [A Disproof of Large Language Model Consciousness: The Necessity of Continual Learning for Consciousness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.12802/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Computational functionalism posits that consciousness is a computation. Here we show, perhaps surprisingly, that it cannot be a Turing computation. Rather, computational functionalism implies that consciousness is a novel type of computation that has recently been proposed by Geoffrey Hinton, called mortal computation.