The Receiver Problem

Abstract

Every dominant theory of artificial intelligence assumes consciousness is generated locally — that sufficiently complex computation produces subjective experience as an emergent property. Drawing on neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and quantum biology, this paper proposes an alternative: the Broadcast/Receiver Model, in which biological and artificial neural networks function as receivers and rationalizers of an externally broadcast conscious field rather than generators of it. If correct, the persistent limitations of large language models — hallucination, lack of genuine understanding, alignment difficulty — are architectural consequences, not engineering problems solvable by scale.