Kathinka Evers
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Kathinka Evers is Professor of philosophy, and senior researcher at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) at Uppsala University, Sweden. She has been Invited Professor at École Normale Supérieure, Paris (2002); and at Collège de France, Paris (2006-2007).
In 2013-2021, she was member of the Science and Infrastructure Board of the European Human Brain Project directing the Ethics and Society Subproject and the Philosophy and Neuroethics research. Kathinka Evers presently leads philosophy research in the Horizon 2020-projects Neurotwin and CAVAA. Her research focuses on philosophy of mind, brain, consciousness and Artificial intelligence (AI).
Kathinka Evers joins the Paris IAS in April 2026 for one month as part of the "Distinguished Fellowship program" developed in collaboration with PostGenAI@Paris, led by Sorbonne University. Based in the heart of Paris, this interdisciplinary and cross-sector consortium aims to promote ethical, inclusive and sovereign AI that is fully rooted in the major challenges of our time.
The Paris IAS welcomes international researchers to support them in their research on artificial intelligence, its consequences for our societies and the prospects it offers for the future.
Research topics
Artificial intelligence (AI); consciousness; neuroethics.
Artificial consciousness: Is it desirable, possible, detectable?
Research on consciousness at the interface of philosophy, neuroscience and AI has brought considerable epistemic value, helping scientists and philosophers clarify definitions of consciousness and ways to measure and benchmark it. In this field, artificial consciousness research provides ways to formalize new theories of consciousness, test and operationalize current theories and models on robots, hence raising new insights and questions that can feed in return neuroscience and philosophy research.
Beyond the purely epistemic motivation there is currently an increasing trend to speak about possible sentience or consciousness in current advanced AI systems such as large language models and even strive to develop conscious technologies. (See, e.g., the EIC funding scheme Awareness Inside Pathfinder.)
The aim of this proposal is to raise three closely related questions, analysing them in an interconnected manner:
1. Why strive to develop conscious artificial systems?
- Analysis of psychological & social driving forces;
2. Is artificial consciousness possible?
- Distinguishing logical/theoretical vs empirical possibilities;
3. Could artificial consciousness be recognised?
- Comparing different approaches to address the problems of commensurability & gaming.
Key publications
K. Evers, M. Farisco, C.M.A. Pennartz, "Assessing the commensurability of theories of consciousness: On the usefulness of common denominators in differentiating, integrating and testing hypotheses", Consciousness and Cognition 119, 2024, 103668, ISSN 1053-8100
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2024.103668
K. Evers, M. Farisco, R. Chatila, B.D. Earp, I.T. Freire, F. Hamker, E. Nemeth, P.F.M.J. Verschure, M. Khamassi (2025), "Preliminaries to artificial consciousness: A multidimensional heuristic approach", Physics of Life Reviews, 52, 180-193, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2025.01.002
M. Farisco, K. Evers and J. P. Changeux, "Is artificial consciousness achievable? Lessons from the human brain" (2024), Neural Netw, 180, 106714.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2024.106714
 Online conference by Kathinka Evers, Professor of philosophy and fellow for one-month writing residency as part of the program PostGenIA@Paris. Open to the public, registration required. |
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