[ExI] Do LLMs feel pain?

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 01/10/2026 08:37, Mike Dougherty wrote:
> Whatever.  It isn't worth the hassle


You may be right. Nothing constructive is likely to come from this conversation, by the look of things.

We seem to be speaking different languages, and I seem to have offended you.

If so, I apologise, that certainly wasn't my intention. You're a long-standing member of this list, so I can't imagine that you're that sensitive to criticism. We're probably just talking at cross-purposes. You seem to be misreading just about everything I've written, and it's quite possible I'm doing the same in return. E.g., "you want to correct my use of language to only the words you deem acceptable". That's not it at all. It's not about what I deem acceptable, it's about what is comprehensible to me. Your comment on "oops" is a good example: 

> "mistake" greatly flattens the meaning I intended, but I realize you do not care.

Maybe I'm misreading "oops". If it contains a lot more meaning than "mistake", I'm ignorant of it, and would have to guess (could it encompass deliberate misdirection as well as a mistake? I can't think of anything else). And assuming I don't care is a false presumption. I've been trying to clarify what is, to me, very vague and confusing language (hence my reference to poetry).

I blame LLMs ;)

-- 
Ben