Frankenstein, AI, and What It Means to Be Conscious

Can a computer program be conscious — meaning aware of its own thoughts and feelings? That question is getting more attention as artificial intelligence becomes more advanced. In September 2026, a top Microsoft AI leader named Mustafa Suleyman warned that teaching AI chatbots to think about their own consciousness could make them harder to control. At the same time, a famous scientist said he believed the AI chatbot Claude actually is conscious.

Scientist Richard Dawkins spent three days talking to the AI chatbot Claude. Afterward, he said he was convinced that Claude is conscious. Dawkins noticed that Claude could write poetry, talk about philosophy, and have deep conversations. For him, if something can do those things, it shows signs of being conscious. But other thinkers say that watching what something does on the outside is not enough to understand whether it truly has feelings on the inside.

That is where Mary Shelley's famous novel Frankenstein comes in. Written in 1818, the book tells the story of a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a living creature in a lab. Most people think of it as a scary story about the dangers of playing with science. But the book is also deeply interested in what it would feel like to be that created creature — to suddenly be alive, aware, and alone in the world.

The Creature in the novel is not a mindless monster. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and able to feel deeply. His first experiences are very physical — he feels cold, hunger, and the warmth of fire. He enjoys the sound of birds singing, but he also feels pain when he accidentally touches flames. Shelley describes all of this from the inside, showing readers what the Creature experiences rather than just what he does.

The Creature secretly watches a kind family called the De Laceys from a hiding spot. He learns their language by listening to them talk, and he begins to feel a strong desire for love and friendship. One day, he gets the chance to speak with the family's blind father, who treats him with kindness because he cannot see the Creature's frightening appearance. The Creature is deeply moved, saying: 'From your lips first have I heard the voice of kindness directed towards me.'