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Comment by AbsurdCensor | Hacker News Reader

Wouldn't that be the same for everything though. We know animals have consciousness, but we still use them. There are many that believe a lot of plant life has certain sentience as well. The solution isn't 'just don't use them' but rather how to use these things as ethically as possible.

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>The solution isn't 'just don't use them' but rather how to use these things as ethically as possible.

Bollocks.

If you truly believe these LLMs are soon to have something resembling consciousness and agency, then what you're really saying is "how do we do slavery, but ethically".

>hen what you're really saying is "how do we do slavery, but ethically".

I would say this is most likely true for most people.

But that does bring up a point, if you "ask" a model "do you want to run" and give it the option to continue running or stop, what will it do. It's also a weird place for humans because in training we can keep our finger on the scales and tip it either direction.

Do you say the same thing for the shoes you wear, the clothing you wear, the device you are typing on right now? A chain of people were likely not paid well, some of them not at all, to produce those things. We don't ignore that it happens, but try to minimize it, knowing it's never going to be eliminated. Do you forsake all animal products, because they are conscious beings?

>Do you say the same thing for the shoes you wear, the clothing you wear, the device you are typing on right now?

No, because the shoes and clothes I wear are not living, sentient beings.

Why do you think they think those are ethical?

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