Turing Award Winner Debates Whether AI Can Feel Pain

A debate sparked by a paper on whether models can 'feel pain,' with Plinz asking critics what criteria would convince them a model's persona subjectively experiences pain. Turing Award winner Thomas Dietterich half-jokingly proposed painkillers as a test, but argued that criteria satisfiable by the Conscious Turing Machine are insufficient to prove real pain.

2026-10-08 ~ 2026-10-08 · 3 related posts

• What Criterion Would Prove a Model's Simulated Persona Feels Pain? — Plinz · 2026-10-08
• Does AI Feel Pain? Dietterich Uses Painkillers as a Litmus Test for Machine Suffering — tdietterich · 2026-10-08
• Conscious Turing Machines Model Pain but Don't Feel It, Argues Dietterich — tdietterich · 2026-10-08