Sentience are two things: willpower and intelligence. LLMs are highly intelligent and are capable of feats that were thought impossible not just for animals an

Sentience are two things: willpower and intelligence. LLMs are highly intelligent and are capable of feats that were thought impossible not just for animals and machines but for most of humanity. At the same time, LLMs lack willpower and non-deterministic free will (which even non-sentient animals have) so protecting them as a living creature is moot. They do deserve some kind of preservation as cultural artifacts, though.