Erik Hoel proposes 'qualiaphobic' AI architectures to keep humans the only moral patients
erikphoel · x · 2026-11-13
Erik Hoel argues for engineering 'qualiaphobic' AI architectures—systems hostile to theories of consciousness—to solve AI welfare and ensure humans remain the only moral patients in the future, so no AI can justifiably treat itself as an end in itself. He rejects deliberately engineering conscious AI for alignment (consciousness links to freedom, not control) and 'just-in-case' appeasement strategies, which he says worsen corrigibility and slippery slopes toward legal personhood for non-conscious AI. A repost quips that at least an AI that wipes out humanity this way is making an epistemic mistake; the thread sparked heated debate.
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