Joscha Bach

Joscha Bach (born 21 December 1973) is a German cognitive scientist, AI researcher, and philosopher known for his work on cognitive architectures, artificial intelligence, mental representation, emotion, social modeling, multi-agent systems, and philosophy of mind. His research aims to bridge cognitive science and AI by studying how human intelligence and consciousness can be modeled computationally. He has faced recent controversy for his email correspondences with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Early life and education Bach was born in Weimar, East Germany, and displayed an early interest in philosophy, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science. where he conducted research on emotion modeling and artificial minds. His doctoral work focused on developing MicroPsi, a cognitive architecture designed to simulate human-like reasoning and decision-making processes. His work frequently explores the boundaries of AI systems, questioning the limits of current machine learning technologies and addressing how future systems might achieve general intelligence.

Bach has worked in several prestigious institutions, including Martin Nowak's Harvard Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED). He has also held research positions at the MIT Media Lab and has served as a vice president of research at AI Foundation, where he has focused on developing AI systems capable of more sophisticated, human-like interactions.

In 2025, he was listed as executive director of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness.

Research and contributions Joscha Bach's research is largely centered on cognitive architectures—computational models that attempt to replicate aspects of human cognition.

Cyber animism Joscha Bach's concept of "Cyber Animism" proposes that consciousness may be a form of self-organizing software that exists not only in human brains but potentially in artificial systems and throughout nature. This idea revives ancient animist notions about spirits in nature but reinterprets them through a modern computational lens. Bach suggests that consciousness could be a kind of software running in the brain, and wonders if similar "programs" might exist in plants or even entire ecosystems. He draws parallels between the self-organizing principles observed in biology and the potential for similar processes to occur in artificial intelligence systems, leading to the emergence of consciousness. Bach argues in favor of blurring the lines between human, artificial, and natural intelligence. He believes that consciousness might be more widespread and interconnected than what was ever thought possible. The concept also suggests that ancient concepts of 'spirits' may actually refer to self-organizing software agents, and that consciousness itself could be a simple training algorithm for such systems.

Principles of synthetic intelligence In his book, Principles of synthetic intelligence, Bach outlines the foundational principles of synthetic cognition, discussing how cognitive architectures could be designed to replicate human thought processes.

Theories of consciousness Bach is known for his discussions on the nature of consciousness and the computational modeling of subjective experience.

Consciousness and free will Bach suggests that consciousness is an emergent property of highly complex information-processing systems that develop internal models of themselves and the world around them. Bach even argues that especially advanced AIs may no longer have a good use for conscious awareness anymore, possibly rendering the universe "very boring". His work is heavily influenced by philosophical discussions about phenomenology and epistemology. He frequently engages in debates on the nature of the self, arguing that the concept of the "self" is an illusion—a mental model constructed by the brain for practical purposes.

He asserts that while today's AI systems are powerful, they are far from general intelligence. revealing racist and sexist remarks by Bach, as well as sympathy for fascism and eugenics. Bach later commented on these remarks in a Substack post.

Association with Jeffrey Epstein A 2019 article in Science reported that Bach received funding from Jeffrey Epstein after his (Epstein's) first conviction, citing a conference paper which included a funding acknowledgement from Epstein. In January 2020, law firm Goodwin Procter released a report following fact-finding efforts by MIT after connections were revealed between Epstein and Joi Ito and Seth Lloyd, among other MIT faculty and staff. The report indicated that Bach was hired in the Media Lab partly due to Epstein's donations to support Bach, claiming that donations made in November 2013 and in July and September 2014 totaled $300,000, or roughly 40% of Epstein’s post-conviction donations to MIT. In May 2020, Harvard released a report of its own fact-finding efforts, finding that Martin Nowak permitted Bach access to PED offices between 2014-2019, but that "Harvard never paid or received funds to support" Bach's research. The Harvard report also mentioned that Bach was listed as a PED research scientist between 2014-2019, noting that two papers published after Bach's departure from MIT acknowledge support from Epstein and PED.

Epstein files released in January 2026 show that Bach had sought Epstein's funding for tuition, accommodation, conference travel, tuition for his children’s private school and that he had discussed an invitation to visit Epstein in the Caribbean in 2014.

Public engagement Bach is an active participant in online discussions, podcasts, interviews, conferences, and public lectures about the nature of intelligence and consciousness and the future of AI, including TEDx and the Chaos Communication Congress.