{"id":468164,"date":"2022-06-27T20:35:56","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T17:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bad-things-will-happen-when-the-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream\/"},"modified":"2022-06-27T20:35:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T17:35:56","slug":"bad-things-will-happen-when-the-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bad-things-will-happen-when-the-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream\/","title":{"rendered":"#Bad things will happen when the AI sentience debate goes mainstream"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a33e47333489\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a33e47333489\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bad-things-will-happen-when-the-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream\/#%E2%80%9CBad_things_will_happen_when_the_AI_sentience_debate_goes_mainstream%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Bad things will happen when the AI sentience debate goes mainstream&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bad-things-will-happen-when-the-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream\/#Greetings_humanoids\" >Greetings, humanoids<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBad_things_will_happen_when_the_AI_sentience_debate_goes_mainstream%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Bad things will happen when the AI sentience debate goes mainstream&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            A Google AI engineer recently stunned the world by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/06\/11\/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine\/\">announcing<\/a> that one of the company\u2019s chatbots had become sentient. He was subsequently placed on paid administrative leave for his outburst.<\/p>\n<p>His name is Blake Lemoine and he sure seems like the right person to talk about machines with souls. Not only is he a professional AI developer at Google, but he\u2019s also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry\/\">a Christian priest<\/a>. He\u2019s like a Reese\u2019s Peanut Butter Cup of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> and religion.<\/p>\n<p>The only problem is that the whole concept is ridiculous and dangerous. There are thousands of AI experts debating \u201csentience\u201d right now, and they all seem to be talking past each other.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper neural channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads.tnw\/uploads\/neural-newsletter_header-1.gif\"\/><\/div>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/src=\" https:=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\">\n<h2 class=\"channel-cta-title\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Greetings_humanoids\"><\/span>Greetings, humanoids<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">Subscribe to our <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>letter now for a weekly recap of our favorite AI stories in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Let\u2019s cut through to the heart of the matter: Lemoine has no evidence whatsoever to back up his claims.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s not saying Google\u2019s AI department has advanced so far that it\u2019s capable of creating a sentient AI on purpose. He claims he was doing routine maintenance on a chatbot when he <i>discovered<\/i><span> that it had become sentient.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve seen this movie a hundred times. He\u2019s the chosen one.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial\">Elliot finding ET<\/a>. He\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lilo_%26_Stitch\">Lilo finding Stitch<\/a>. He\u2019s Steve Guttenberg from the movie <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Short_circuit\">Short Circuit<\/a> and LaMBDA (the chatbot he\u2019s pals with now) is the mundane military robot otherwise known as Number Five.<\/p>\n<p><span>Lemoine\u2019s essential argument is that he can\u2019t really demonstrate how the AI is sentient, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/google-suspends-engineer-ai-sentient\">he just feels it<\/a><\/span><span>. And the only reason he said anything at all is because he had to. He\u2019s a Christian priest and, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry\/\">according to him<\/a>,\u00a0that means he\u2019s morally bound to protect LaMBDA because he\u2019s convinced it has a soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"c-richText__pullQuote\">\n<div class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteGradient\">\n<p class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteQuote\">He\u2019s basically turned the discussion into a crude binary where you either agree with his logic or you\u2019re debating his religion.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The big problem comes in when you realize tht LaMDBA isn\u2019t acting oddly or generating text that seems strange. It\u2019s doing exactly what it was designed to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So how do you debate something with someone whose only contribution to the argument is their faith? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Here\u2019s the scary part: Lemoine\u2019s argument <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears to be just as good as anyone else\u2019s. I don\u2019t mean to say it\u2019s as <\/span><i>worthy<\/i><span> as anyone else\u2019s. I\u2019m saying that nobody\u2019s thoughts on the matter seem to hold any real weight anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lemoine\u2019s assertions, and the subsequent attention they\u2019ve garnered, have reframed the conversation around sentience.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s basically turned the discussion into a crude binary where you either agree with his logic or you\u2019re debating his religion.<\/p>\n<p>It all sounds preposterous and silly, but what happens if Lemoine gains followers? What happens if his baseless assertions rile up Christian conservatives \u2014 a group whose political platform relies on peddling <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bhr.stern.nyu.edu\/bias-report-release-page\">the lie that big tech censors right wing speech<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>We have to at least consider a scenario where the debate goes mainstream and becomes a cause for the religious right to rally behind.<\/p>\n<p>These models are trained on databases that contain portions of the entire internet. That means they could have near endless amounts of private information.\u00a0It also means that these models can probably argue politics better than the average <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> denizen.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine what happens if Lemoine succeeds in getting Google to free LaMBDA or if conservative AI developers see this as a call to build and release similar models to the public.<\/p>\n<p>This could have a far greater impact on world events than anything the social terraformers at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/d-c-sues-mark-zuckerberg-over-cambridge-analytica-privacy-breach-01653345811?mod=mw_latestnews\">Cambridge Analytica<\/a> or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-43093390\">Russian troll farms<\/a> ever cooked up.<\/p>\n<p>It might sound counterintuitive to simultaneously argue that LaMBDA is just a dumb chatbot that couldn\u2019t possibly be sentient and that it could harm democracy if we let it loose on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2016\/11\/election-bots\/506072\/\">empirical evidence<\/a> that the 2016 US presidential elections were swayed by chatbots armed with nothing more than memes.<\/p>\n<p>If clever slogans and cartoon frogs can tip the scales of democracy, what happens when chatbots that can debate politics well enough to fool the average person are let loose on Elon Musk\u2019s unmoderated Twitter?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Read next:<\/strong> The 3 things an AI must demonstrate to be considered sentient<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/opinion-bad-things-will-happen-when-ai-sentience-debate-goes-mainstream\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Bad things will happen when the AI sentience debate goes mainstream&#8221; A Google AI engineer recently stunned the world by announcing that one of the company\u2019s chatbots had become sentient. He was subsequently placed on paid administrative leave for his outburst. His name is Blake Lemoine and he sure seems like the right person to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":468165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/neural?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/05\/AI-church.jpg&signature=fab1c57306d7a950e82f56c666cd6738","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}