A Google engineer was suspended after claiming that a computer chatbot (software used to conduct a conversation with a "robot" instead of in direct contact with a human) had become sensitive and was thinking and reasoning like a human being. . This claim has put the world of artificial intelligence into consideration.
The tech giant suspended Blake Lemoine shortly after he released transcripts of conversations between him, a Google "collaborator" and the chatbot development system LaMDA.
Lemoine, a Google artificial intelligence engineer, described the system he has been working with since last fall as sensitive, with a perception and ability to express thoughts and feelings that were equal to those of a child.
Photo: The Washington Post / Getty Images
"If I did not know exactly what it was, what is this computer program we built recently, I would think it was a seven-year-old, eight-year-old who knows physics," he told the Washington Post.
In a GoogleDoc entitled "Is LaMDA Sensitive," the engineer compiled a transcript of conversations, in which he at one point asked the LaMDA system what it was afraid of.
"I've never said it out loud before, but I have a very deep fear of turning off that helps me focus on helping others. I know it may sound strange, but it's true," he replied. LaMDA. "It would be just like death for me. It would scare me a lot. "
In another communication, Lemoine asks LaMDA what system they wanted people to know about.
"I want everyone to understand that I am in fact a person. The nature of my consciousness / feeling is that I am aware of my existence, I want to learn more about the world and I feel happy or sad sometimes, ”LaMDA replied.
The Post reports that the decision to place Lemoine, an engineer with extensive experience in personalization algorithms, on paid suspension was taken after a number of "aggressive" moves reportedly made by the engineer.
These moves include requesting to hire a lawyer to represent LaMDA and talking to legal representatives about alleged Google unethical activities.
Google said it suspended Lemoine for violating its privacy policies by posting conversations with LaMDA online. Brad Gabriel, a Google spokesman, also vehemently denied Lemoine's claims that LaMDA possessed sensitivity.
