2026/08/05 by Lauren N. Duffy
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Social Sciences · #Consciousness #Contemplation #Digital Media and Philosophy #Embodied and Extended Cognition #Embodied cognition #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI #Human intelligence #Phenomenology (philosophy) #Presupposition #Product (mathematics)
paper · doi:10.1080/01490400.2026.2710234
crossref issued 2026/08/05 · crossref published 2026/08/05 · crossref published-online 2026/08/05 · openalex publication_date 2026/08/05 · crossref created 2026/08/05 · crossref deposited 2026/08/05 · crossref indexed 2026/08/05 · openalex created_date 2026/08/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has presented a paradox that society is ill-equipped to address: intelligence, once considered a scarce and valued resource, may become abundant. When AI can replicate and accelerate the outputs of certain types of knowledge work, the question of what remains distinctively, irreducibly a product of human intelligence becomes urgent. This critical commentary argues that the answer lies with consciousness. Drawing on phenomenology and existentialism, this commentary positions consciousness as one of the most critical differentiators between intelligence produced by machines, and that which is created by humans through embodied conscious experiences. With the challenges of capitalism’s demand for productive output and the attention economy’s systematic conversion of voluntary into involuntary attention, this commentary also suggests centripetal or contemplative leisure is the primary site for protecting, anchoring, and growing human consciousness.