I think there are many examples of EAs thinking about the possibility that AI might be sentient by default. Some examples I can think of off the top of my head:
I don’t think people are disputing that it would be theoretically possible for AIs to be conscious, I think that they’re making the claim that AI systems we find won’t be.
Thanks for the links, I googled briefly before I wrote this to check my memory and couldn’t find anything. I think what formed my impression was that even in very detailed conversations/writing on AI, as far as I could tell by default there was no mention or implicit acknowledgement of the possibility. On reflection I’m not sure if I would expect it to be even if people did think it was likely, though.
I think there are many examples of EAs thinking about the possibility that AI might be sentient by default. Some examples I can think of off the top of my head:
Brian Tomasik has written about why we might get sentient computer programs by default, eg https://reducing-suffering.org/why-your-laptop-may-be-marginally-sentient/
I’ve referred to this occasionally in the past in various posts of mine, eg http://shlegeris.com/2016/11/26/research
Eliezer Yudkowsky is worried about the related concern that AI systems might simulate humans in morally relevant ways https://arbital.com/p/mindcrime/?l=18h
Paul Christiano has written about whether unaligned AI is morally valuable https://ai-alignment.com/sympathizing-with-ai-e11a4bf5ef6e
I don’t think people are disputing that it would be theoretically possible for AIs to be conscious, I think that they’re making the claim that AI systems we find won’t be.
Thanks for the links, I googled briefly before I wrote this to check my memory and couldn’t find anything. I think what formed my impression was that even in very detailed conversations/writing on AI, as far as I could tell by default there was no mention or implicit acknowledgement of the possibility. On reflection I’m not sure if I would expect it to be even if people did think it was likely, though.