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We are pleased to announce that Professor Gualtiero Piccinini, a professor of philosophy and a computational philosopher at the University of Missouri, Columbia, has been honored with the title of academician of the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness (WAAC) for his outstanding contributions to the fields of computationalism, neural computation theory, and the study of consciousness mechanisms.
Professor Piccinini has long been dedicated to exploring the relationship between the mind and computation, proposing the “mechanistic explanation of physical computation” theory, which emphasizes that computation is a process of mechanisms in physical systems, rather than merely symbolic manipulation. In research published with his collaborators in the journal Cognitive Science, he argued that neural computation is neither digital computation nor analog computation, but a distinct mechanistic process. His seminal work, Neurocognitive Mechanisms: Explaining Biological Cognition, systematically elaborates on the application of computational theory in biological cognition, offering new perspectives on the neural mechanisms of consciousness.
- Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem
Academicians of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness hail from institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, the French Academy of Sciences, the University of Padua, the University of Queensland, Columbia University, and the University of Exeter. Honorary Academicians come from a wide range of countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, and China. In addition, leading scientists from prominent research institutes and technology companies—such as Google, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and ZEEKR—also participate.
- About WAAC
The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.