I think things might not be mutually exclusive. LLMs might have a chance to be conscious in certain circumstances and it still wouldn’t mean these would be precisely when they’re being egged on and led to talk about consciousness. There is always a layer here of acting. I have no doubt Tom Hanks is a real person with a real inner life, but I would be deluding myself if I believed I had learned about it because I saw him emote so well in Cast Away. Because Tom Hanks is also very good at pretending to have a different inner life than he actually does .
I think things might not be mutually exclusive. LLMs might have a chance to be conscious in certain circumstances and it still wouldn’t mean these would be precisely when they’re being egged on and led to talk about consciousness. There is always a layer here of acting. I have no doubt Tom Hanks is a real person with a real inner life, but I would be deluding myself if I believed I had learned about it because I saw him emote so well in Cast Away. Because Tom Hanks is also very good at pretending to have a different inner life than he actually does .