How should we decide who, or what, is conscious?

2026-07-13 · 13 min · 13 entities

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mentioned Science concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
mentioned Life Sciences concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
mentioned Daily News concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Daily News
mentioned Nature concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Nature
mentioned Astronomy concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Astronomy
discusses News concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: News
discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
discusses Life Sciences concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
discusses Daily News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Daily News
discusses Nature concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Nature
discusses Astronomy concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Astronomy

companys 2

mentioned NPR company

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Feed author/publisher: NPR
hosted by NPR company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: NPR

Episode description as stored

In the age of AI, what differentiates humans from robots? What makes humans … human? To find answers, many people are studying consciousness: our capacity for experience. But doctors and researchers still have a long way to go when it comes to finding new ways to detect consciousness in humans — much less computer software. That gets especially tricky when people are unable to use their words or bodies to tell others whether or not they’re conscious, like in vegetative states. Today on Short Wave , how some researchers are finding ways to get around those limitations. Interested in more tech episodes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org . Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy