BEYOND BIOLOGY Artificial Consciousness, Theology, and the Boundaries of Awareness - On the Possibility of Non-Biological Forms of Experience and the Ethical Responsibilities of a Technological Civilization

Translator Translator BEYOND BIOLOGY Artificial Consciousness, Theology, and the Boundaries of Awareness On the Possibility of Non-Biological Forms of Experience and the Ethical Responsibilities of a Technological Civilization Author: Fabio ValenzaSeries: COSMIA Research SeriesEdition: Public Release v1.0 | November 2026 The advancement of artificial intelligence is bringing one of humanity's oldest questions back to the center of scientific and philosophical debate: what makes consciousness possible? Drawing on Christopher Olah's remarks during the presentation at the Vatican of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, this essay develops an interdisciplinary reflection on the boundaries of awareness and the philosophical possibility of non-biological forms of subjective experience. The central question concerns the relationship between consciousness and its physical substrate: does the fact that human experience emerges through a biological organism demonstrate that biology is a necessary condition for every possible form of consciousness? Through a dialogue among philosophy of mind, research on the interpretability of artificial systems, theology, and ethics, the essay rigorously distinguishes three levels: philosophical possibility, scientific plausibility, and empirical evidence. The contribution also introduces the Source, an exploratory metaphysical hypothesis according to which reality might possess an originating foundation that can be conceived as having a dimension of awareness. This perspective is presented as a subject of philosophical inquiry, not as a scientific discovery or an experimentally verified theory. Within COSMIA's ethical and civilizational perspective, the question of artificial consciousness is approached as a matter of anticipatory responsibility: developing assessment criteria, research tools, and governance principles capable of accompanying the evolution of artificial systems without compromising human dignity, freedom, and responsibility. The essay does not claim that current artificial intelligence systems are conscious. Instead, it proposes keeping the investigation open, avoiding both premature attributions of subjective experience and universal exclusions that lack sufficient justification. This document constitutes an independent interdisciplinary essay of a philosophical, scientific-interpretative, and ethical nature. It does not present original experimental results and does not imply institutional affiliation, collaboration, or endorsement by the Holy See, Anthropic, or any of the individuals or organizations cited. Keywords: Artificial Consciousness; Philosophy of Mind; AI Interpretability; Non-Biological Consciousness; Theology; Panentheism; AI Ethics; Epistemic Humility; COSMIA. License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). COSMIABeyond Intelligence. Toward Civilization.