‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

I Don't Like LLMs

248 points · 277 comments · TangerineDream

  1. marcuskaz · · focus · HN ↗
    > I’m fearful of the damage AI might cause: agent swarms taking over our virtual and physical infrastructure, designing bio weapons

    The attitude that AI is doing things all on its own is so pervasive. These are all set off by human operators, giving them instructions and tools to do whatever it is that are doing. The "AI has a mind of its own" attitude is just wrong.

    The fear of bad people using AI to do bad things is very different then AI agent swarms attacking and taking over.

    1. danny_codes · · focus · HN ↗
      We don't know how sentient LLMs are. Nobody understands how they work. There's nothing concrete we can point to that guarantees LLMs don't start "acting on their own".
      1. scythmic_waves · · focus · HN ↗
        LLMs are software programs. Waste no more time considering than an LLM is conscious than you would considering that a running copy of Microsoft Word is conscious.

        There's a great article by author Ted Chiang discussing this in depth [1].

        [1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&#x2F;philosophy&#x2F;2026&#x2F;06&#x2F;no-artificial-intelligence-is-not-conscious&#x2F;687378&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&#x2F;philosophy&#x2F;2026&#x2F;06&#x2F;no-artificial...

        1. hardbass · · focus · HN ↗
          Do you believe in souls?
          1. scythmic_waves · · focus · HN ↗
            I find it hard to believe in something so ill-defined and with such heavy religious undertones.

            I&#x27;m open to the dualist&#x27;s position on consciousness if that&#x27;s what you&#x27;re really asking. Though that&#x27;s more because I find the physicalist&#x27;s position so untenable [1] that I&#x27;m forced to consider alternatives.

            [1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;plato.stanford.edu&#x2F;entries&#x2F;physicalism&#x2F;#NumbAbst" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;plato.stanford.edu&#x2F;entries&#x2F;physicalism&#x2F;#NumbAbst

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.