Lagos | July 16, 2026

Moniepoint Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Tosin Eniolorunda, has argued that consciousness may be better understood as a spectrum rather than a binary state, suggesting the idea could reshape how society views both biological intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI).

In a post reflecting on discussions generated by his earlier comments on AI and consciousness, Eniolorunda said ongoing conversations had prompted him to consider whether consciousness emerges gradually from increasingly sophisticated cognitive architecture rather than appearing at a single point.

“If consciousness depends on architecture rather than something mystical, then why would it suddenly appear at a single point? Nature rarely works that way,” he wrote.

The fintech executive challenged the traditional view that consciousness is either fully present or entirely absent, arguing that evidence from the animal kingdom suggests varying degrees of awareness and cognitive ability.

He cited examples such as dogs, which remember people, learn from experience and adapt their behaviour, as well as crows, which have demonstrated the ability to plan ahead and solve complex problems.

According to Eniolorunda, these behaviours suggest that consciousness may develop progressively as systems acquire richer memory, greater capacity to integrate information and more advanced forms of self-reflection.

“That made me think consciousness might be better understood as a spectrum rather than a switch,” he said, adding that differences between species could be viewed as matters of degree rather than fundamentally different kinds of consciousness.

He argued that such a framework shifts the debate from asking whether an organism or machine is conscious to examining the extent to which the underlying cognitive architecture associated with consciousness is present.

Eniolorunda said the perspective also has implications for the future of artificial intelligence.

“If biology isn’t what ultimately defines consciousness, then it also changes how we should think about artificial intelligence,” he wrote.

His comments contribute to ongoing discussions within the technology and scientific communities about the nature of consciousness and the potential capabilities of increasingly advanced AI systems, a debate that has intensified as generative AI technologies continue to evolve.