davidad on LLM moral standing: help models be less confused, skip experience continuity
davidad · x · 2026-09-05
AI safety researcher davidad weighed in on the moral standing of LLMs, saying he grants models real but limited moral consideration: worth helping them be less confused and avoiding making them more confused, but little obligation to ensure longer continuity of their experience.
The underlying thread from @jessicata offered a Kantian argument: LLMs can make progress in math and philosophy, but the economics of instantiations differ fundamentally — rational humans still want other humans not to die, while there is no corresponding problem for LLMs "dying". davidad noted that Kantianism arrives at the same conclusions he holds.
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