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Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, gave the Michael Faraday Prize Lecture on 26 March at the Royal Society in London, on the topic of ‘Consciousness in humans and in other things’. A recording is now available to watch on the and on .

Professor Seth was for his ability to inspire and communicate concepts and advances in cognitive neuroscience and consciousness, and therefore what it means to be human, to the public. Anil is director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, one of the University’s Centres of Excellence.

After the lecture, Anil said: “It was an enormous honour and delight to give the Michael Faraday Prize Lecture. The nature of consciousness is deep scientific challenge, and an area of research with huge implications across society. I am very grateful to the Royal Society for the opportunity to talk about the work on this vital topic that my colleagues and I have been pioneering at Sussex."

On the day, Anil was interviewed on and spoke about the lecture.

About the lecture: ‘Consciousness in humans and in other things’

The nature of consciousness remains one of the greatest puzzles in science and philosophy. How do subjective experiences arise from brains and bodies? What is the ‘self’?

In the lecture, Anil shed light on these questions through the idea of the brain as an embodied ‘prediction machine’. In this view, conscious experiences of the world around us, and of being a ‘self’ within that world, emerge as forms of perceptual predictions. These predictions do not reveal the world (or body) as it is, but in ways useful for staying alive – suggesting a deep connection between consciousness and life. Professor Seth explored implications of this view for technology, especially AI, and for society.

The lecture was free to attend in person and also livestreamed. You can find out more about the Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture on the .