Thread

1. ulrashida · 1790512404 · focus · HN ↗

   So bizarre to see the article refer to outputs as the models referencing "themselves". Computers are not a "them".

   1. singpolyma3 · 1790512460 · focus · HN ↗

      Why not? "Them" is a generic pronoun for anything. Boats, cars, computers, all of them
   2. sebasv_ · 1790513050 · focus · HN ↗

      I agree, in the same way that bodies are not a "them".

      A program with agency, opinion and intent however, does qualify. To say that such programs are "thems" only if they run on specific hardware, say a homo sapiens, is very tricky territory. Slavery and Fascism both leaned heavily on the axiom that the hardware needs a specific skin color.

      1. hardbass · 1790522817 · focus · HN ↗

         I am finding it depressingly rare to see people who don't believe, whether they admit it or not, in souls here. I used to think a technical audience like software engineers would have a decent percentage of people making the completely commonsense default assumption that consciousness like anything else we have seen till now is a physical phenomenon.

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