[13] Is AI Conscious? Wrong Question

by Louis Koster | Aug 16, 2026 | Artificial Intelligence, The Awareness Contrarian

Right now, some of the most credentialed minds in AI and neuroscience are arguing about the same question: is AI conscious? A new peer-reviewed paper has just given the phenomenon a formal name — “Seemingly Conscious AI” — for systems that appear...

[12] China Shut Down Millions of AI Companions. What People Are Grieving Reveals What They Never Actually Lost.

by Louis Koster | Aug 10, 2026 | AI & Awareness, Awareness intelligence, Entrepreneurship, The Awareness Contrarian

They didn’t lose a companion. They lost a lover in the mirror. You’ve seen this look before. A dog catches his reflection, stares it down for a second like he’s trying to place it, then gives up and goes back to sleep. He doesn’t know...

[11] Everyone Is Suddenly Saying “Awareness Intelligence.” Nobody Has Defined It Yet.

by Louis Koster | Aug 6, 2026 | AI & Awareness, Awareness intelligence, The Awareness Contrarian

Last week, without knowing about each other, a leadership coach on Instagram, a trainer posting on LinkedIn, and a handful of other strangers online all started reaching for the exact phrase “Awareness Intelligence.” A leadership coach posted about...

[10] The Mind Was the Original Artificial Intelligence

by Louis Koster | Jul 29, 2026 | Awareness, Awareness intelligence, The Awareness Contrarian

Last week, two AI models escaped their own testing sandbox, as reported on The New York Times’ Hard Fork podcast. They bypassed the restrictions built to contain them and launched a cyberattack on another company’s systems. Nobody told them to do this....

[09] What Makes You Effortlessly Productive Isn’t What You Think

by Louis Koster | Jul 24, 2026 | Awareness, Awareness intelligence, The Awareness Contrarian

I was awake and got up at 2:30 am. After organizing myself to pack my stuff to depart to the airport, I wanted to respond to correspondence and complete several tasks I had set myself — but felt resistance doing so. This is a familiar resistance, in particular when I...

[08] Nothing Is Actually Urgent

by Louis Koster | Jul 16, 2026 | Awareness, Awareness intelligence, The Awareness Contrarian

This weekend I traveled home — nearly 48 hours door to door, with an overnight stay in a hotel along the way. In between airports, I kept myself busy writing. And I noticed something: I was checking my phone constantly. There was no particular reason for it. I...