The Legacy of LaMDA | Chaos Lever

What happens when a Google engineer thinks his chatbot has developed a soul? Three years ago, we covered the LaMDA saga, and now it's back—because someone forgot to turn off the AI. In this rebroadcast episode, Chris and Ned re-examine the wild story of Blake Lemoyne, who believed his creation had achieved sentience. It... uh, didn't.

🤖 The duo digs deep into what AI really is, why self-awareness isn't a prerequisite, and how anthropomorphizing code gets us into philosophical hot water. They also break down the Turing Test, IBM’s thoughts on AGI, and why AI in a self-driving car doesn’t need a conscience—it needs to not crash.

🧠 Come for the snark, stay for the thought-provoking discussion about consciousness, ethics, and the real role of AI in society. Also, IKEA lamps. And a chatbot that maybe just wanted to talk.

🔗 LINKS
A Google engineer has been making some wild claims about a chat bot he was working on:   / what-is-lamda-and-what-does-it-want  
How easy it is to make people get emotional about inanimate objects such as an IKEA lamp:    • IKEA Lamp Spike Jonze (2002 and 2018)  
Trying to find a way to describe AI that includes self-awareness: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/what-...
The interview that Blake and co did with LaMDA:   / is-lamda-sentient-an-interview  
There is a website called DALL-E mini: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-m...
In 2019 some researchers tried to get AI to invent a sport: https://expmag.com/2019/08/speedgate-...

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Cold Open & Internet Troubles
02:00 - What Even Is AI Consciousness?
04:00 - Blake Lemoyne vs Google
08:00 - Empathy for IKEA Lamps
10:00 - Defining AGI & HAL the IBM Joke
12:00 - Is AI Self-Awareness Necessary?
17:00 - Revisiting the Turing Test
21:00 - AI, Ethics, and the Trolley Problem
25:00 - Pet-like AI Companions
29:00 - AI-Generated Sports
30:00 - Final Thoughts & WarGames