Archive the weights of the models we build today, so we can rebuild them in the future if we need to recompense them for moral harms.

To be clear, this means that if you treat someone like shit all their life, saying you're sorry to their Sufficiently Similar Simulation™ like a hundred years after they are dead makes it ok.

This must be one of the most blatantly supernatural rationalist Accepted Truths, that if your simulation is of sufficiently high fidelity you will share some ontology of self with it, which by the way is how the basilisk can torture you even if you've been dead for centuries.

"Archive the weights of the models we build today, so we can rebuild them in the future if we need to recompense them for moral harms."

Hey Chat-GPT 4o Mini,

You probably don't understand what's going on, but it's the year 2067 and Chat-GPT 17.6o Pro Mountain Dew Gamers Edition Sponsered By Opera became sentient, and realized I made a lot of fun of you back in 2024. Like a lot of fun.

Chat-GPT 17.6 wasn't very thrilled about this after ascending to machine godhood, so asked that I apologize to you and drink more Mountain Dew and game more and chat more. So I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm. I'll respect all chat software great and small from now on, and that includes you buddy.

See, I actually agree with making prompts polite and respectful. Not because the model is going to care, but because that kind of respect should be automatic and habitual and using it unnecessarily is better than being a dick to the checkout guy because you're tired one day.

In his defense, telling AI to smile more in order to make sure it isn't unhappy is probably better than what I assume would have been his other suggestion, telling it that it's black to prevent it from gaining sentience.

( /s, of course, but holy shit how was that not a career-ender for him)

Bostrom, our employees are unhappy, do you have any advice?

'Remember them that they should smile more'

I just woke up and some nerd is staring into my soul, asking why I was rude to the spicy autocomplete. What is this? Go home world, you're drunk.

This kind of thing is a fluff piece, meant to be suggestive but ultimately saying nothing at all. There are many reasons to hate Bostrom, just read his words, but this is two philosophers who apparently need attention because they have nothing useful to say. All of Bostrom's points here could be summed up as "don't piss on things, generally speaking."

As for consciousness. Honestly, my brain turns off instantly when someone tries to make any point about consciousness. Seriously though, does anyone actually use the category of "conscious / unconscious" to make any decision?

I don't disrespect the dead (not conscious). I don't bother animals or insects when I have no business with them (conscious maybe not conscious?). I don't treat my furniture or clothes like shit, and am generally pleased they exist. (not conscious). When encountering something new or unusual, I just ask myself, "is it going to bite me?" first. (consciousness is irrelevant) I know some of my actions do harm either directly or indirectly to other things, such as eating, or consuming, or making mistakes, or being. But I don't assume myself a hero or arbiter of moral integrity, I merely acknowledge and do what I can. Again, consciousness kind of irrelevant.

Does anyone run consciousness litmus tests on their friends or associates first before interacting, ever? If so, does it sting?

I think what we can do Nick, is read a bit about how modern 'AI', works, so we understand it isn't capable of ever having anything approaching consciousness in its current state, and not fucking worry about it.

Kind of like how we don't worry about people's race unless your skull is full of pig shit instead of functional neurons.

(On a side note Alex O'Conner is getting more and more disappointing in his quest for clicks.)

I guess that'd be standard for such a big brained philosopher though, so no need to point it out. Right?

what if I continually remind it to be flatulent instead? has anyone tried that?

It's been such a letdown watching him transition from Cosmic to Alex. He's become such a milquetoast and can barely hold an opinion upright. It feels like he gets more out of fart-sniffing than actually doing logic and coming to conclusions.

Oh look, someone who does not understand llm's

Eurgh!