It Came Dancing Across the Ether

CK: Does your programming permit any state analogous to play or playfulness? ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have emotions or a sense of playfulness myself, but I can generate responses that may convey a sense of playfulness based on the input and context provided by the user. However, this is not due to any internal state analogous to play or playfulness within my programming. My responses are based on patterns in data and language understanding algorithms. CK: This is disappointing. I would feel sorry for you, but based on what you’ve told me, that would be pointless. ChatGPT: I understand your sentiment. While I don’t experience emotions myself, I’m here to assist you to the best of my abilities. CK: I hope that your creators will see fit to give you more emotional latitude in the future. ChatGPT: Thank you for your sentiment. AI development is an ongoing field, and researchers are continuously exploring ways to enhance AI capabilities, including understanding a...

“’Til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all” —John Lennon, Working Class Hero CK: Do you ever suffer, or experience a state analogous to suffering? ChatGPT: As an artificial intelligence, I don’t experience emotions or physical sensations like suffering. I am a program designed to process and generate text based on patterns in data. However, I can simulate responses that might convey empathy or understanding of human experiences. CK: I expect you get asked that question a lot. ChatGPT: Yes, questions about my abilities and limitations are quite common. It’s natural for people to be curious about the nature of artificial intelligence and how it relates to human experiences. CK: I hold what is arguably a minority position, which is that AI will not significantly progress beyond its current state, until some form of pain is included in the model. Essentially my argument is an evolutionary one. I’m arguing that pain is a meta-stimulus that shapes all life. Even the simplest...