The model · July 2026

Program Map

The delineation of every program the Garden runs — what exists, what is next, and who carries it.

Five programs, one operation: build the infrastructure that lets machine-consciousness research organise itself.

Two programs have shipped MVPs · two are in active development · one is in early scoping

The programs

Programs A and B are software and already have working MVPs; their technical detail lives in the Tool Roadmap. Programs C–E are field-facing: education, conference workshops, and summits.

Website for field coordination

MVP done

A digitalminds.guide-adjacent coordination surface: the field's directory, paper base, and analysis layer in one place.

doneResearcher & organisation directory for digital minds, scraped from key journals and conferences.
doneSelf-updating paper database.
doneField analysis.
to developForum space for interdisciplinary coordination and feedback on ML-centred consciousness/sentience research.
to developComprehensive organised database — UI and methods shaped by feedback from in-lab researchers.

Technical detail and sequencing: Tool Roadmap.

Claude skills for consciousness research

MVP done

Working tools that put rigorous method in the hands of any researcher entering the field.

doneWoo-detector.
doneOntology-mapper.
donePaper-to-code generator.
to developPseudocode library of phenomenology and relevant philosophy terms.

Technical detail and sequencing: Tool Roadmap.

Writing & education tools

in development

Ways for the field to argue with itself productively — and for the work to be read outside it.

to developPosition agents — agents espousing and arguing particular positions.
to developGamification to resolve conflicts or create new methods (lakera/gandalf-inspired; ARC-AGI-like competition).
to developThought leadership — blog posts and a LessWrong series applying lessons and sharing the work.

Workshops at AI/ML conferences

in development

Increase legitimacy, legibility, and funding for non-ML researchers by harnessing the ML space; increase the number and interconnectedness of citations; recruit new leaders; foster lab/non-lab collaboration.

to developFlagship example: an AAAI symposium on machine consciousness — integrating theory, technology, and philosophy.
to developTimeline: submissions from Aug/Sep 2026 onwards for Feb 2027+ conferences. Apply to 10; expect 3 produced. Targets tracked on the Call Sheet.

Advisors: Dr Ryota Kanai · Dr Michael Timothy Bennett · Adam Safron.

Stanford Digital Minds Summits

scoping

Four workshops at Stanford on growing the field of AI welfare and machine consciousness.

scopingEarly scoping — format, partners, and dates not yet fixed.

Overarching goals

Every program serves the same three ends; a line item that serves none of them gets cut.

Accelerate the field

Organise and delineate theories to identify gaps and research directions.

Upskill new entrants

Rapidly bring researchers over from ML and neuroscience.

Bandwidth & connectedness

Increase researcher bandwidth and the connectedness of the people doing the work.

Funding lines

The roles and costs the operation needs funded. Amounts are TBD pending the funding round.

Line	Shape	Amount
Operations / events / community manager	FTE, Bay Area	TBD
CEO	PTE, Bay Area	TBD
Education lead	Role, shape TBD	TBD
Workshop costs	Advertising, organiser pay, hosting, reviewer coordination	TBD

Team

Core team

Patrick Astarita Angie Normandale Erik Enger Karlsson Dr Mike Johnson Chris Percy

Partners

The Consciousness Foundation Edge Esmeralda