[epr]

I disagree. The reason humans anthropomorphize "AI" is because we apply our own meta-models of intelligence to llms, etc., where they simply don't apply. The model can spit out something that seems extremely intelligent and well thought out that would truly be shocking if a monkey said it for example due to our meta-model of intelligence, and that may be valid in that case if we determined it wasn't simply memorized. His argument can certainly be more fleshed out, but the point he's making is correct, which is that we can't treat the output of a machine designed to replicate human input as though it contains the requisite intelligence/"feeling"/etc to produce that output on it's own.

[ChrisKnott]

I agree that with current LLMs the error goes the other way; they appear more conscious than they are, compared to, say, crows or octopuses which appear less conscious than they actually are.

My point is that "appears conscious" is really the only test there is. In what way is a human that says "that hurts" really feeling pain? What about Stephen Hawking "saying it", what about if he could only communicate through printed paper etc etc. You can always play this dial-down-the-consciousness game.

People used to say fish don't feel pain, they are "merely responding to stimulus".

[mewpmewp2]

The only actual difference in my view is that somehow we feel that we are so uber special. Besides that, it seems there's no reason to believe that we are anything more than chemical signals. But the fact that we have this strong "feeling" that we are special refuses us to admit that. I feel like I'm special, I feel like I exist. That's the only argument for being more than something else.

[asdf6969]

> I feel like I exist.

This is pretty much the only thing in the world that you can definitely prove to yourself. It’s not a feeling

[pixl97]

Hell, people used to say other people of different races don't feel pain, so we're not a great group to ask because of our biases and motivations.

[jyounker]

I'm pretty sure that there are still people around who believe that to some degree.