​          
Email:  Susansdr(at)gmail.com
Associate Professor 
Department of Philosophy 
Cognitive Science Program
Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Science
The University of Connecticut
Ethics and Technology Group,
Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
​Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies 
Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton
Click here for my CV
               

---

My work is on the nature of the self and mind, which I examine from the vantage point of issues in philosophy of mind, ethics, cognitive science (especially neuroscience and AI), and analytical metaphysics. The topics I’ve written about most recently include superintelligent AI (consciousness and control), intelligent life in the universe, whether thought is physical and computational, the mathematical nature of physics, whether the mind is a program, and the nature of the person.  For a brief overview of some of my work see this interview with 3AM Magazine.   Other discussions of my work have appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Science, Big Think, Smithsonian, Discover, and more (see “media”, above). See "papers" in the menu for downloads (also available at Academia.edu).

New:  Click here for my new paper on superintelligence and AI safety.  Click below for my recent TED talk on AI consciousness. (And click here for a fun blog discussion on it at Splintered Mind). To the right is a new 1 hour interview with Robert Wright (Meaning of Life TV, BlogginheadsTV).

​Here's a new paper on why physics  itself doesn't mesh with physicalism. (The target paper of a special issue of JCS.)

News​​:

• Conference on my work: Minds, Selves and Technology, with Susan Schneider
• Speaking engagements within the next few months: Fox News (Greg Gutfield Show, AI special), IdeaFest (Sept.), Plasma Physics Laboratory (Sept.); NYU Mind and Brain Center, (AI ethics event) Oct.; Institute for Advanced Study, South Africa (Feb.);  New York Science Writers Association (Oct.); Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton (Nov.); Rubin Museum (YHouse) (Oct.).
• Here’s my recent op-ed in the Huffington Post, on AI consciousness.
• Recent articles discussing my work include pieces in: Nautilus, Smithsonian, PC World, PBS.org, and WIRED (see “media” above). 
• Two journal special issues on my work are coming out soon. (1) On my new argument against physicalism. (2) Papers from the conference on themes from my work.
• A new talk show episode on my work/1 hour interview (available here and on CuriosityStream).
• Here’s a video of a talk I gave to NASA on alien minds, which has led to my NASA supported project on AI in space. Discussions of this paper are in Science, Motherboard, CBS, Slate (France), The Daily Mail (UK), El Mundo (Spain) Popular Mechanics, IO9, etc. (see “media”).
• Cool Motherboard interview with myself and computational neuroscientist Randal Koene on whether brain uploading would be a way for a person to survive.
• The new edition of Science Fiction and Philosophy is available, the second edition of the Blackwell Companion to Consciousness is now in press.
• Here’s my two cents on what philosophers of mind should worry about (with Pete Mandik):  How Philosophy of Mind can Shape the Future” (ends a 6 vol. history of philosophy of mind).*​