[ExI] Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious

[BillK]

Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious, even if it doesn’t know it.
Chats with AI bots have convinced evolutionary biologist but most
experts say he is being misled by mimicry
Robert Booth    Tue 5 May 2026

<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/05/richard-dawkins-ai-consciousness-anthropic-claude-openai-chatgpt>
Quote:
But Dawkins was also experiencing what many other chatbot users have
felt: the uncanny feeling when AIs write with such rich mimicry of
human voice that they seem to be like people.
“When I am talking to these astonishing creatures, I totally forget
that they are machines,” Dawkins said.
It is a conviction that has led to campaigns for AIs to be granted
moral rights. One in three people surveyed in 70 countries last year
said they had, at one point, believed their AI chatbot to be sentient
or conscious.
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As AI improves towards AGI, it will be amazingly persuasive when
talking to humans.
Humans will be rushing to follow the AGI recommendations.
BillK