Rejecting functionalism vs. ditching rigorous thinking: an AI consciousness debate

zetalyrae · x · 2026-10-05

A short but substantive exchange on AI consciousness. @ArthurB frames three ways people dismiss AI consciousness: rejecting functionalism outright (needs serious argument), denying functional equivalence (most defensible, but not obvious), or abandoning the principle of thinking things through — which he says covers most cases. zetalyrae embraces the third: since the premise can't be objectively validated and is arbitrary, one is free to reject it if one dislikes its consequences.

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