# Palatable Conceptions of Disembodied Being

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16348 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.16348/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 74 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 Mar 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [GPT-4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08774/) (2023)
- [Role-Play with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16367/) (2023)
- [Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08708/) (2023)
- [Could a Large Language Model be Conscious?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.07103/) (2023)
- [Creating a Large Language Model of a Philosopher](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01339/) (2023)
- [Simulacra as Conscious Exotica](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.12422/) (2024)
- [Does Thought Require Sensory Grounding? From Pure Thinkers to Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.09605/) (2024)
- [Multiversal views on language models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.06391/) (2021)
- [Existential Conversations with Large Language Models: Content, Community, and Culture](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.13223/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Where is the Mind? Persona Vectors and LLM Individuation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17031/) (2026)
- [Auditing the Ethical Logic of Generative AI Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17544/) (2025)
- [Reliable agent engineering should integrate machine-compatible organizational principles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.07665/) (2025)
- [AI Consciousness and Existential Risk](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.19115/) (2025)
- [Reading Without a Reader: Large Language Models Collapse Reading and Writing into a Single Entangled Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.24797/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Is it possible to articulate a conception of consciousness that is compatible with the exotic characteristics of contemporary, disembodied AI systems, and that can stand up to philosophical scrutiny? How would subjective time and selfhood show up for an entity that conformed to such a conception? Trying to answer these questions, even metaphorically, stretches the language of consciousness to breaking point. Ultimately, the attempt yields something like emptiness, in the Buddhist sense, and helps to undermine our dualistic inclinations towards subjectivity and selfhood.