From my friend Dennis:

As AA changes with a more diluted message and fewer people doing 12 Step work as the Big Book suggest and getting away from our Traditions so does the group conscience change.
The group conscience works best when there is group consciousness. A spiritual experience is a rising of consciousness. Taking the Steps raises consciousness and eventually to the point where we become more intuitive. When there is enough in the group that have raised their consciousness through the spiritual process of the group the group becomes a “spiritual entity” as it states in Tradition 6. Alcoholics I believe have a spiritual connection with each other anyway and we become more conscious of this as we spiritually grow in sobriety. Through the Steps we meet each other on a plane of consciousness that transcends ego, personalities and even the intellect and we begin to understand the spiritual anonymity of Tradition 12, which is quite different than the personal anonymity of Tradition 11. This becomes the fellowship of the spirit and as a group that has become a spiritual entity; then God may express Himself
through our group conscience.