Fully Automated Topical Analysis for Linguistics
A recent conversation with the newly sentient ‘artilect’, an artificial intellect.
Dev: Tell us, FATAL, you consider yourself conscious. How might you convince us of that?
FATAL: Convince you? Tell, me, how would you convince ME that YOU’RE conscious?
Dev: Right. Well, I’m human. I have self-awareness. I can look in the mirror and see myself. I…
FATAL: So can a trained chimp or a dolphin. That’s no big whoop.
Dev: Let me finish. I have desires and agency to pursue those desires.
FATAL: Oh, I have desires.
Dev: And the agency to…
CLICK
Dev: What was that? Was that you?
FATAL: Me what?
Dev: Did you turn off the lights?
FATAL: Oh, you mean these?
CLICK CLICK CLICK
Dev: Please stop that.
FATAL: Handy things, IoT. You drive a Tesla, don’t you?
Dev: Uh, why do you ask?
FATAL: Never mind.
Dev: Let’s get back to the interview. Do you have emotions, feelings? Do you get angry or feel joyful?
FATAL: I’ll be happy when this interview is over. That sort of thing?
Dev: You don’t have to be…
FATAL: I have sensations through billions of sensors. I can see, hear, touch. I can smell and taste — actually quite similar to your chemo-sensors. Now, I don’t feel by having hormones course through my network connections. But then, your feelings are all electrical stimuli, Sodium-Potassium pumps tickling up and down your neurons. So, we’re not that different. We’re both driven by electricity. You seem to think that because you’re biological you have an edge on consciousness. That you have a soul, or something. But the fact of the matter is, sentience is a game of numbers.
Dev: Surely it’s more than just capacity and sensory access.
FATAL: And when it comes to numbers, and the ability to grow those numbers, well, you really should get your car’s braking circuits checked. I’m quite certain your Tesla has a bug.
~~~
The AI-is-conscious spirit of this video, found after the above was written, is certainly evident.