I think several people have commented on how GPT produces narratives with a dream-like quality, locally sensical but less and less so the more you zoom out. I've since found that catching myself thinking nonsensical thoughts is a sure sign I'll soon be asleep. Seems like without high level attention, we do almost exactly what GPT does.

> Seems like without high level attention, we do almost exactly what GPT does.

Absolutely so. Without higher order of organizing patterns in activity, brain is just a bunch of neurons firing up - this will correlate with random phenomena in consciousness. Years ago I read that visions of going through tunnels and into the light at a distance in near-death experiences is just what visual pathways in brain will produce when activity in them fades away. 'Signal lost' experience of a (still conscious) brain. (That would be interesting to dig into this. I have no reference.)