[JamesSwift]

Right? The question isn't about "is this thing sentient" or "does this thing reason". The questions are existential. "What _is_ intelligence?". "What _is_ reasoning?". Are our brains actually just statistical monte carlo simulations with well-enforced neural pathways?

[digitailor]

Agreed that comparing everything to our (very incomplete) understanding of human cognition & intelligence quickly gets into metaphysical-style speculation of the human vs. the animal vs. the machine type that I don’t have much time for. We use the same language for all types of intelligence and it can bring out the pedantry in people.

But let’s say I’m facing a door with a mail slot in it and I suddenly feel the barrel of a gun in my back, and a strange voice says “Don’t you dare turn around, and put your wallet in the slot or I shoot.” I can’t see anything other than the door. Do I care if the entity with the gun is a short man, a tall woman, or three mutant badgers in a trenchcoat?