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"qualia" is the bikeshedding for any discussion on intelligence (biological or artificial). It's an unfalsifiable concept that's much easier to reach to than en

"qualia" is the bikeshedding for any discussion on intelligence (biological or artificial). It's an unfalsifiable concept that's much easier to reach to than engaging in the concepts that are actually relevant to modern work in those fields. Posting this is a bit of trying to hold back the tide, because the dominant threads in HN AI/BI discussions are almost always horribly uninformed, but I'm posting this so that if anyone else who actually does work in those fields is reading this and wondering what on earth is going on, now you know you're not alone!

mrtranscendence 4y ago
Eh? I’m not surprised that AI researchers are not informed about the philosophy of mind, and I doubt that they need to be in order to do their work. But the quale is an important concept and just assuming it doesn’t exist because AI researchers don’t need it is a bit silly.
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  It's just not relevant. It's an ill-defined measure for something that (all due respect) makes philosophy majors feel like they're participating in something they're unqualified to participate in.
  - mrtranscendence 4y ago
    With similarly all due respect, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about here. Philosophers aren't qualified to pontificate on the nuances of building language models, but they can have plenty to say on consciousness and intelligence. When you ignore them you get ... let's call them funny tweets saying that some large language models might be conscious.
    - ShamelessC 4y ago
      Sorry, my prior comment was incredibly rude - must have been in a bad mood but that's no excuse. I agree that outside perspective is valuable (although I would wager that such tweets are more attempts at getting headlines/funding than at being earnest).
Jack000 4y ago
I agree. You might as well replace the word "qualia" with "soul" and the argument stays exactly the same.

mrtranscendence 4y ago

Eh? I’m not surprised that AI researchers are not informed about the philosophy of mind, and I doubt that they need to be in order to do their work. But the quale is an important concept and just assuming it doesn’t exist because AI researchers don’t need it is a bit silly.

ShamelessC 4y ago
It's just not relevant. It's an ill-defined measure for something that (all due respect) makes philosophy majors feel like they're participating in something they're unqualified to participate in.
- mrtranscendence 4y ago
  With similarly all due respect, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about here. Philosophers aren't qualified to pontificate on the nuances of building language models, but they can have plenty to say on consciousness and intelligence. When you ignore them you get ... let's call them funny tweets saying that some large language models might be conscious.
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    Sorry, my prior comment was incredibly rude - must have been in a bad mood but that's no excuse. I agree that outside perspective is valuable (although I would wager that such tweets are more attempts at getting headlines/funding than at being earnest).

Jack000 4y ago

I agree. You might as well replace the word "qualia" with "soul" and the argument stays exactly the same.