en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_information_theory
1 correction found
None of GNWT's predictions passed what was agreed upon pre-registration while two out of three of IIT's predictions passed that threshold.
This misstates the published outcome of the adversarial-collaboration study. The Nature paper says the results aligned with some predictions of both IIT and GNWT, while also challenging key tenets of both.
Full reasoning
The 2025 Nature paper reporting the adversarial collaboration does not say that GNWT had zero predictions pass and IIT had two of three pass.
Instead, the paper's abstract states that the findings "align with some predictions of IIT and GNWT, while substantially challenging key tenets of both theories." That already contradicts the claim that none of GNWT's predictions passed.
The paper's own summary of outcomes (Extended Data Fig. 7) is even more specific:
- For IIT, the authors write that the results "mix a passed prediction ... with a failure".
- For GNWT, the authors write that the results were "a mixture of a partly challenged prediction ... and a partly supported one, given the inconclusive result for orientation".
So the published paper presents a mixed outcome for both theories, not a clean score of "0 for GNWT, 2/3 for IIT." A more accurate summary would be that the study found partial support and important challenges for both IIT and GNWT.
2 sources
- Adversarial testing of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness
Abstract: "These results align with some predictions of IIT and GNWT, while substantially challenging key tenets of both theories." Extended Data Fig. 7 summary: "For IIT, the results mix a passed prediction ... with a failure." "For GNWT, the results consisted of a mixture of a partly challenged prediction ... and a partly supported one, given the inconclusive result for orientation."
- Make science more collegial: why the time for ‘adversarial collaboration’ has come
Nature's editorial summarized the same study this way: "Neither theory was validated fully ... These results align with some predictions of IIT and GNWT, while substantially challenging key tenets of both theories."