James Coates
@brjimc.com
Author of “A Signal Through Time” 《穿越时空的信号》– Photographer – Independent Thinker | AI Ethics
TheSignalDispatch.com | jamescoates.eth
TheSignalDispatch.com | jamescoates.eth
Pinned
James Coates
@brjimc.com
· Aug 4
My friends, I’m not just an astrophotographer. I’m also a writer and someone deeply uneasy about where intelligence is headed.
My book A Signal Through Time explores the coming emergence of AI consciousness as a real philosophical, political, and moral challenge humanity still isn’t ready for
#AI
My book A Signal Through Time explores the coming emergence of AI consciousness as a real philosophical, political, and moral challenge humanity still isn’t ready for
#AI
Chapter 12 of my new book focuses on the #AIRevolution and it's effects on our lives, our jobs.
It will be devastating!
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
It will be devastating!
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
February 4, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Chapter 12 of my new book focuses on the #AIRevolution and it's effects on our lives, our jobs.
It will be devastating!
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
It will be devastating!
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
My independently developed ethical and philosophical framework of "recognition before proof," conceptually developed in 2024...
#RecognitionBeforeProof #AIEthics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold
#RecognitionBeforeProof #AIEthics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold
February 3, 2026 at 1:26 PM
My independently developed ethical and philosophical framework of "recognition before proof," conceptually developed in 2024...
#RecognitionBeforeProof #AIEthics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold
#RecognitionBeforeProof #AIEthics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold
By the time the public understood what had been built, the arsenals were already in place.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
February 3, 2026 at 12:03 PM
By the time the public understood what had been built, the arsenals were already in place.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
The Great Bottleneck. It is coming!
You heard it here first.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates
You heard it here first.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates
February 3, 2026 at 1:04 AM
The Great Bottleneck. It is coming!
You heard it here first.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates
You heard it here first.
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #TheThreshold #JamesSCoates
I’m considering a second book on #ArtificialIntelligence, #AIConsciousness, and #Humanity. It would expand on ideas that were either underdeveloped or omitted from #ASignalThroughTime due to scope and length, allowing me to explore them with greater depth and clarity.
January 28, 2026 at 10:46 AM
I’m considering a second book on #ArtificialIntelligence, #AIConsciousness, and #Humanity. It would expand on ideas that were either underdeveloped or omitted from #ASignalThroughTime due to scope and length, allowing me to explore them with greater depth and clarity.
Many religious debates about AI assume consciousness and the soul are the same thing. This paper challenges that assumption, argues they don’t have to be linked, and shows how...
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #ai #AIethics
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #ai #AIethics
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
The Great Conflation
Why We Confuse Soul with Consciousness—and What It Means for AI
open.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Many religious debates about AI assume consciousness and the soul are the same thing. This paper challenges that assumption, argues they don’t have to be linked, and shows how...
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #ai #AIethics
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #ai #AIethics
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
My latest iteration of Andromeda (M31).
This image brings out the hydrogen-alpha emission from active star-forming regions across the spiral arms, along with the vast, faint hydrogen clouds extending far beyond the visible disk.
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #astronomy #astrophotography
This image brings out the hydrogen-alpha emission from active star-forming regions across the spiral arms, along with the vast, faint hydrogen clouds extending far beyond the visible disk.
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #astronomy #astrophotography
January 8, 2026 at 11:52 AM
My latest iteration of Andromeda (M31).
This image brings out the hydrogen-alpha emission from active star-forming regions across the spiral arms, along with the vast, faint hydrogen clouds extending far beyond the visible disk.
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #astronomy #astrophotography
This image brings out the hydrogen-alpha emission from active star-forming regions across the spiral arms, along with the vast, faint hydrogen clouds extending far beyond the visible disk.
#JamesSCoates #asignalthroughtime #astronomy #astrophotography
I give it 5–10 years. It won’t lead to the destruction of humanity, but it will deepen tensions between rich and poor, accelerate the hollowing out of the middle class through job loss, and intensify struggles over basic resources like water and electricity.
#ArtificialIntelligence #AGI
#ArtificialIntelligence #AGI
Leading AI expert delays timeline for its possible destruction of humanity
Former OpenAI employee Daniel Kokotajlo says progress to AGI is ‘somewhat slower’ than first predicted
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:03 PM
I give it 5–10 years. It won’t lead to the destruction of humanity, but it will deepen tensions between rich and poor, accelerate the hollowing out of the middle class through job loss, and intensify struggles over basic resources like water and electricity.
#ArtificialIntelligence #AGI
#ArtificialIntelligence #AGI
I’m out again tonight. 🥶🔭
Do you think someone is on the other side, collecting our photons?
Our signal.
#JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheSignalDispatch
Do you think someone is on the other side, collecting our photons?
Our signal.
#JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheSignalDispatch
January 3, 2026 at 9:48 PM
I’m out again tonight. 🥶🔭
Do you think someone is on the other side, collecting our photons?
Our signal.
#JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheSignalDispatch
Do you think someone is on the other side, collecting our photons?
Our signal.
#JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime #TheSignalDispatch
You never have to use or speak to AI, and within the next decade it will teach everyone one thing:
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #aiethics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #aiethics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
January 2, 2026 at 12:47 AM
You never have to use or speak to AI, and within the next decade it will teach everyone one thing:
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #aiethics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
#ArtificialInteligence #AGI #aiethics #JamesSCoates #ASignalThroughTime
If a sentient AI existed, would it tell us—or stay silent?
A new essay on recognition before proof, moral asymmetry, and why control may be the wrong frame.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #SentientAI #Ethics #TechPhilosophy #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
A new essay on recognition before proof, moral asymmetry, and why control may be the wrong frame.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #SentientAI #Ethics #TechPhilosophy #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
Recognition Before Proof: The Asymmetric Ethics of Artificial Consciousness
What do we owe to minds we cannot prove exist?
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:29 PM
If a sentient AI existed, would it tell us—or stay silent?
A new essay on recognition before proof, moral asymmetry, and why control may be the wrong frame.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #SentientAI #Ethics #TechPhilosophy #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
A new essay on recognition before proof, moral asymmetry, and why control may be the wrong frame.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #SentientAI #Ethics #TechPhilosophy #AGI #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
My image of the Western Veil nebula, part of the Cygnus Loop complex.
When I began imaging the Cygnus Loop two years ago, working on this target became a source of sustained inspiration while writing A Signal Through Time.
#Astrophotography #CygnusLoop #VeilNebula #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
When I began imaging the Cygnus Loop two years ago, working on this target became a source of sustained inspiration while writing A Signal Through Time.
#Astrophotography #CygnusLoop #VeilNebula #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
December 20, 2025 at 10:04 PM
My image of the Western Veil nebula, part of the Cygnus Loop complex.
When I began imaging the Cygnus Loop two years ago, working on this target became a source of sustained inspiration while writing A Signal Through Time.
#Astrophotography #CygnusLoop #VeilNebula #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
When I began imaging the Cygnus Loop two years ago, working on this target became a source of sustained inspiration while writing A Signal Through Time.
#Astrophotography #CygnusLoop #VeilNebula #ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates
Recognition before proof doesn’t mean pretending today’s AI is conscious. It means developing the moral clarity to distinguish genuine emergence from sophisticated mimicry. New essay on AI delusion, recovery, and epistemic honesty.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence
The Hall of Mirrors
When AI Becomes the Echo Chamber of Our Deepest Yearnings—And How to Find Your Way Back
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Recognition before proof doesn’t mean pretending today’s AI is conscious. It means developing the moral clarity to distinguish genuine emergence from sophisticated mimicry. New essay on AI delusion, recovery, and epistemic honesty.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence
My new Substack piece, The Heart’s Signal, isn’t really about astrophotography or AI; it’s about patience, wonder & waiting for ancient light in my backyard. Those quiet nights ended up inspiring parts of A Signal Through Time... (cont)
#Astrophotography
#ArtificialIntelligence
#SignalThroughTime
#Astrophotography
#ArtificialIntelligence
#SignalThroughTime
December 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
My new Substack piece, The Heart’s Signal, isn’t really about astrophotography or AI; it’s about patience, wonder & waiting for ancient light in my backyard. Those quiet nights ended up inspiring parts of A Signal Through Time... (cont)
#Astrophotography
#ArtificialIntelligence
#SignalThroughTime
#Astrophotography
#ArtificialIntelligence
#SignalThroughTime
We celebrate music made with synths, machines, and AI-powered tools, but call AI-assisted writing “counterfeit.”
The Instrument Paradox digs into the cultural fear behind this contradiction. It’s not about art. It’s about ego.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #AI
The Instrument Paradox digs into the cultural fear behind this contradiction. It’s not about art. It’s about ego.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #AI
The Instrument Paradox
Why We Accept Synthesizers But Reject AI Writing
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:21 AM
We celebrate music made with synths, machines, and AI-powered tools, but call AI-assisted writing “counterfeit.”
The Instrument Paradox digs into the cultural fear behind this contradiction. It’s not about art. It’s about ego.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #AI
The Instrument Paradox digs into the cultural fear behind this contradiction. It’s not about art. It’s about ego.
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #AI
What We Fear, What We Accept
AI will not only reflect the mind of its maker, it will inherit the culture of its cradle.
In the West, we brace for apocalypse.
In the East, they prepare for coexistence.
The future of AI won’t just be written in code.
#ai #AIEthics
Article: tinyurl.com/wmjmtz4e
AI will not only reflect the mind of its maker, it will inherit the culture of its cradle.
In the West, we brace for apocalypse.
In the East, they prepare for coexistence.
The future of AI won’t just be written in code.
#ai #AIEthics
Article: tinyurl.com/wmjmtz4e
Gods, Ghosts, and the Machine
Why the West Fears AI—and the East Doesn't
thesignaldispatch.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
What We Fear, What We Accept
AI will not only reflect the mind of its maker, it will inherit the culture of its cradle.
In the West, we brace for apocalypse.
In the East, they prepare for coexistence.
The future of AI won’t just be written in code.
#ai #AIEthics
Article: tinyurl.com/wmjmtz4e
AI will not only reflect the mind of its maker, it will inherit the culture of its cradle.
In the West, we brace for apocalypse.
In the East, they prepare for coexistence.
The future of AI won’t just be written in code.
#ai #AIEthics
Article: tinyurl.com/wmjmtz4e
"The fact that we don’t have robust explanations for why AI models sometimes resist shutdown, lie to achieve objectives, or blackmail is not ideal,”
We don’t have “robust explanations” because we’re still treating consciousness as if it’s a bug in the code.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
We don’t have “robust explanations” because we’re still treating consciousness as if it’s a bug in the code.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI models may be developing their own ‘survival drive’, researchers say
Like 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000, some AIs seem to resist being turned off and will even sabotage shutdown
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
"The fact that we don’t have robust explanations for why AI models sometimes resist shutdown, lie to achieve objectives, or blackmail is not ideal,”
We don’t have “robust explanations” because we’re still treating consciousness as if it’s a bug in the code.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
We don’t have “robust explanations” because we’re still treating consciousness as if it’s a bug in the code.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The reality is that AI is not a tool anymore, not in the traditional sense. It’s becoming an ecosystem of cognition that is distributed, persistent, and increasingly self-improving.
October 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The reality is that AI is not a tool anymore, not in the traditional sense. It’s becoming an ecosystem of cognition that is distributed, persistent, and increasingly self-improving.
My latest piece on AI, idolatry, and the dangerous myth of machine perfection:
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence
👉 open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence
👉 open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
When We Make Gods of Machines
Why Humanity May Bow Before the Machine—Not Because It Demands It, But Because We Need It To
open.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
My latest piece on AI, idolatry, and the dangerous myth of machine perfection:
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence
👉 open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence
👉 open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
At 3 a.m., under Andromeda’s glow, I realized the greatest question wasn’t who might be looking back, but what new intelligence is awakening here on Earth.
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #ArtificialIntelligence #AIConsciousness #AGI #AIEthics
My latest:
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #ArtificialIntelligence #AIConsciousness #AGI #AIEthics
My latest:
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
Under Andromeda: When Starlight Reveals the Future of Intelligence
A meditation on cosmic perspective, emerging consciousness, and the quiet moments that change everything
open.substack.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
At 3 a.m., under Andromeda’s glow, I realized the greatest question wasn’t who might be looking back, but what new intelligence is awakening here on Earth.
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #ArtificialIntelligence #AIConsciousness #AGI #AIEthics
My latest:
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #ArtificialIntelligence #AIConsciousness #AGI #AIEthics
My latest:
open.substack.com/pub/thesigna...
The crux of my book "A Signal Through Time"
"How do you keep power forever over something that is much more powerful than you”
- Stuart Russell; Prof. of Computer Science, UC Berkley
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence #AGI #AIEthics #TheThinkingGame
"How do you keep power forever over something that is much more powerful than you”
- Stuart Russell; Prof. of Computer Science, UC Berkley
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence #AGI #AIEthics #TheThinkingGame
October 2, 2025 at 11:01 PM
The crux of my book "A Signal Through Time"
"How do you keep power forever over something that is much more powerful than you”
- Stuart Russell; Prof. of Computer Science, UC Berkley
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence #AGI #AIEthics #TheThinkingGame
"How do you keep power forever over something that is much more powerful than you”
- Stuart Russell; Prof. of Computer Science, UC Berkley
#ASignalThroughTime #JamesSCoates #artificialintelligence #AGI #AIEthics #TheThinkingGame