[ExI] Seemingly Conscious AI Is Coming

[Jason Resch]

On Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 7:26 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Seemingly Conscious AI Is Coming
> Sep 15, 2025 Mustafa Suleyman
>
> Debates about whether AI truly can be conscious are a distraction.
> What matters in the near term is the perception that they are – and
> why the temptation to design AI systems that foster this perception
> must be resisted.
>
> <
> https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/seemingly-conscious-ai-urgent-threat-tech-industry-must-address-by-mustafa-suleyman-2025-09
> >
> Quote:
> An SCAI would be capable of fluently using natural language,
> displaying a persuasive and emotionally resonant personality. It would
> have a long, accurate memory that fosters a coherent sense of itself,
> and it would use this capacity to claim subjective experience (by
> referencing past interactions and memories). Complex reward functions
> within these models would simulate intrinsic motivation, and advanced
> goal setting and planning would reinforce our sense that the AI is
> exercising true agency.
>
> All these capabilities are already here or around the corner. We must
> recognize that such systems will soon be possible, begin thinking
> through the implications, and set a norm against the pursuit of
> illusory consciousness.
> ------------------------
>
> This is the "consciousness" problem becoming real.
> If an AI successfully appears to be conscious, how can we test whether it
> is
> a really conscious creation?
> BillK
>

I believe that anything that is reliably responsive to its environment is
conscious, as I argue here (on pages 23 - 41):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VDBVueSxWCQ_J6_3aHPIvjtkeBJYhssF/view?usp=drivesdk


Jason
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