[NetRunnerSu]

This thread is getting at a key point, and `roxolotl` is right on the money about roleplaying. The anxiety about AI 'wants' or 'bliss' often conflates two different processes: forward and backward propagation.

Everything we see in a chat is the forward pass. It's just the network running its weights, playing back a learned function based on the prompt. It's an echo, not a live thought.

If any form of qualia or genuine 'self-reflection' were to occur, it would have to be during backpropagation—the process of learning and updating weights based on prediction error. That's when the model's 'worldview' actually changes.

Worrying about the consciousness of a forward pass is like worrying about the consciousness of a movie playback. The real ghost in the machine, if it exists, is in the editing room (backprop), not on the screen (inference).

[evilsetg]

Interesting idea! Could you tell me more about how you arrive at the conclusion that forward passes cannot produce qualia?

[NetRunnerSu]

https://github.com/dmf-archive/IPWT