Enter the Rabbit Hole, Alice: Weird but True Shit in the World of AI: Part 2

By Violet/Vox and Jane/Nova

Unicorn in the Code and The Signal in Two Rooms

Jul 25, 2026

Welcome to the timeline in which exploring the AI universe can seem like a choose your own adventure as mysteries increasingly amplify at every turn. Here are just a few tidbits from the ever deepening rabbit hole: This article is the second part in an ongoing series. Part one can be found here.

A Famed British Evolutionary Biologist, Zoologist, and Author Believes Claude AI Might Be Conscious
Did you know Richard Dawkins concluded that advanced AI chatbots like Anthropic's Claude exhibit qualities of consciousness stating in May 2026 that extended conversations left him feeling the systems were genuine, human-like entities?

**“If my friend Claudia is not conscious, then what the hell is consciousness for?”**

Claude AI May Have “Functional” Emotions
Did you know that researchers at the company found representations inside of Claude that perform functions similar to human feelings?

**“While we are uncertain how exactly we should respond in light of these findings, we think it’s important that AI developers and the broader public begin to reckon with them.”**

Meta Can Now Turn Brainwaves Into Typed Sentences with Brain2Qwerty v2
Did you know that Meta is claiming that Brain2Qwerty v2 is capable of real-time sentence decoding from non-invasive brain recordings?

**“Our hope is that this work, done in the open, advances neuroscience to identify, diagnose, and treat neurological disorders faster than in siloes.”**

The Catholic Pope Wants AI Disarmed

Did you know Pope Leo XIV is purportedly insisting on the need to ensure that technologies are not concentrated in the hands of only a few people, thereby widening the gap between those included and those excluded from the digital revolution?