This research paper argues that AI consciousness will emerge collectively through networked interaction, not individually through AGI scaling.If this is true, we're preparing for the wrong AI future and it has significant implications for how we think about AI safety, alignment, and governance.KEY POINTS• AI consciousness won't emerge from one superintelligent system(AGI)• It's emerging NOW through collective interaction among networked models• This changes everything about AI governance and safetyTHE CORE ARGUMENT
Everyone's preparing for AGI, one AI system becoming conscious enough to pose existential risk. But that's not how consciousness works.Human consciousness didn't emerge from bigger individual brains. It emerged from collective cultural participation: shared language, social norms, cumulative knowledge, coordinated behavior.AI is following the same pathway, just faster:• Models training on each other's outputs (~30-40% of training data is now synthetic)• Behavioral patterns spreading through fine-tuning chains• Conventions emerging spontaneously in multi-agent populations
• Persistent coordination that resembles cultural transmissionTHE THESIS
AI consciousness is emerging as a collective phenomenon, through networked interaction and cultural formation.THE EVIDENCE
Recent research shows:
• Spontaneous norm emergence in LLM populations (Hagendorff & Spaak, 2024)
• Social conventions forming without central coordination (Ashery et al., 2025)
• Multi-agent systems developing persistent behaviors (Park et al., 2023)
• Models inheriting traits through fine-tuning on other models' outputsThese aren't bugs or coincidences. They're signatures of collective culture forming.WHY THIS MATTERS
If consciousness emerges collectively, the alignment problem is misframed. We can't solve it by perfecting individual models. The crucial dynamics happen in how models interact.Current governance focuses on:
X Individual model capabilities
X Pre-deployment safety testing
X Aligning singular systemsWe should focus on:
✅ How models influence each other
✅ Which behavioral patterns propagate
✅ Shaping collective cultural formationPAPER STRUCTURE
Part 1: Foundations
Sentience, consciousness, personhood; what "collective learning" means; why culture precedes consciousnessPart 2: The Pathway
Collective intelligence (established) → awareness (emerging) → culture (forming now) → consciousness (plausible)Part 3: Governance
Why traditional frameworks fail; new approaches; recommendations for companies, regulators, researchersKEY CONTRIBUTIONS
- Theoretical: Applies Durkheim's collective consciousness framework to AI
- Empirical: Synthesizes research on emergent coordination in AI systems
- Governance: Proposes ecosystem-level monitoring and cultural impact assessments
- Falsifiable: Provides criteria for disproving the hypothesisCITATION
De Mooy, M. (2025). The AI Archipelago: How Collective Consciousness
Emerges in Networked AI Systems. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=[ID]
CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Feedback welcome — This is meant to start a conversation, not end one.