Thought for the day (inspired by discourse on BSky):
AI isn't real.
But p-Zombies are real, and LLMs are machines for turning people who outsource their cognitive functioning to "AI" into p-Zombies.
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@cstross
For us non-natives, what's the p in p-zombie for?
The big problem with p-Zombies is simple: How can you tell of someone is one? If they exist they would act and react as if they were like everyone else.
Whereas there are definitely people who act and react in ways which do not require a lack of phenomenal experience, but do indicate a lack of interiority; of self-reflection. Mark Andreeson famously claims he is such. (I tend to believe him.)
Perhaps we need to institute the Gom Jabbar to weed out the animals from the humans?
@cstross
They're sorta real. Definitely met people who broadly qualify, but the polite term is "shallow learner".
Effectively people incapable of understanding meaning or analogies. Some have PhDs.
@iinavpov So, Boris Johnson!
@cstross
I don't know... I think the slimy bastard *plays* the fool but understands very well what he's doing.
I even suspect that his security lapses have in fact fooled the Russians into thinking he's an idiot, whereas he was using them to get booze and sex for free and no fucks were given: a known philanderer with a mystery number of children can't really be blackmailed for being a philanderer...
Bottom line: Bojo plays one but isn't a pzombie.
@cstross this is like the start of an alternate universe Blindsight novel.
@cstross
I hadn't heard of p-Zombies before, so I had to look it up.
Now I have something else to add to my WIP comic fantasy novel.