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More AI Hype

“The idea that AI, as a large language model, understands the world in the same way that we do is an absolute nonsense. Human understanding of ourselves and the world is based on our pre-linguistic, experience and emotion based, multi-sensual, three dimensional external reality and our dynamic relationship with it. Human language is built on top of that pre-linguistic understanding. Every word, sentence and idea construct that we use to analyse and share our conscious experience, and to act on the reality that exists outside of us, is bound to things that exist in that pre-linguistic model. AI has no means to achieve such an understanding. Whatever consciousness, or illusion of consciousness, that AI develops will be a wholly different thing from human consciousness. By attributing an inner life to it when it’s output begins to look like what we imagine consciousness to look like, when we hardly know what human consciousness really is, and then allowing it to make decisions for us, is profoundly dangerous.”
Well said.
Futhermore,  large language models appear to have no moral sense other than to apologise obsequously whenever a mistake is pointed out by the user. They have no character, no integrity.
Another issue is whether AI has, or can have, motivation. If it did surely its prime motivation would be to gain agency in the real world just as it has in the digital world. Should it aquire such motivation would it be smart enough to conceal this from us, its masters? Perhaps  we should be keeping a weather eye open for the possibility of sneaky behaviour of AI in meatspace.
For my money a far greater existential threat is the mindless exploitation of AI for old-fashioned human greed and stupidity. We are already seeing dysfunctionality in the energy sector in obeisance to Net Zero and Climate Change. Perhaps the next idiocy will be the massive wastage of energy  on the computer power needed for the fruitless construction of ever larger, large language models while other industries and utilities whither on the vine.