We have such a strong theory of mind that we project it on anything that could even plausibly have a mind.
- We have such a strong theory of mind that we project it on anything that could even plausibly have a mind.
- A kind of pareidolia run amok.
- A few years ago Wired ran a story on how a Catphishing-as-a-service business ran.
- Victims would develop deep, devoted relationships with their "suitor."
- The depressing thing is: the suitor wasn't a role played by any single contractor.
- Instead, it was a swarm of contractors.
- Each one would get a case, skim the case log, look at the most recent message from the victim, and then propose another message, append to the case log, and move on to the next one.
- Not entirely unlike LLMs, of course.
- The victim was entirely snookered by the most superficial continuity and the impression of a single suitor.
- It shows how easily we believe a coherently-presented persona.
- Especially one we want to believe.
- Some people propose that LLMs, which present a very convincing illusion, indeed, are perhaps conscious.
- Could the swarm of contractors playing the role of the suitor be conscious?
- The idea seems immediately ridiculous.
- But perhaps the collective intelligence of the swarm, an emergent force greater than the sum of its parts, is "conscious."
- If it is, then many things might properly be considered conscious...