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A warning about 'model welfare'

242 points · 701 comments · andsoitis

  1. hosel · · focus · HN ↗
    >AIs are not conscious. They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They do not have innate preferences or underlying motivations.

    Opening paragraph, stated without evidence. Im not entirely convinced this is true. It likely is, but at some point it very well might stop being true.

    1. pton_xd · · focus · HN ↗
      If models had persistent memory or an evolving set of weights, you could easily construct an argument that they can experience "suffering" or other emotions which resultingly adjusts their personality.

      The current implementation as stateless matrix multiplication... yeah there's nothing going on there.

      1. shawnz · · focus · HN ↗
        So if a human loses their memory and their neutral plasticity (with age for example), then they are no longer capable of experiencing suffering?
        1. staticman2 · · focus · HN ↗
          This framing is a trap. It states "Dehumanize a sick patient OR concede the AI tech bro claim about LLMs"

          It's also a rhetorical move I've seen several times here...

          1. qlte · · focus · HN ↗
            Yes it's seemingly the go-to rebuttal, I've lost count of how many times I've seen it with barely any variation.

            Not sure if it's a product of LessWrong or Slate Star Codex or something. I kinda suspect it might be LW, given how it superficially resembles an unanswerable philosophical paradox but in reality is about as challenging as a question posed in a 200 level philosophy course like introduction to ethics.

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