One thing I haven't seen brought up much is that LLMs are basically stateless. To be conscious requires the ability for internal state to change. The weights dont change at all, but the rng seed and input/output text do. We're not seriously arguing that the text itself is the conscious part are we?

▲

garciasn 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

LLMs are stateless for recent interactions, but do have long-term memory from their training and thus act very much like someone suffering from Alzheimer’s.

So, folks who suffer from some level of brain damage that causes them not to have short term memory are then not conscious?

I’m not arguing that LLMs are conscious, mind you; I just disagree that short-term memory loss outside of their context window should be the line.

E: double negatives are bad; my 8th grade English teacher would be disappointed.

▲

i000 an hour ago | parent [-]

> do have long-term memory from their training and thus act very much like someone suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Your 8th grade science teacher may be disappointed too. Drawing such analogies using unequivocal language "very much like" disregards the limited understanding of LLMs, the false analogies between computer and biological systems, and the complex nature of Alzheimer's disease (no it is not just short term memory loss, not even close, for example ability to interpret images)

▲

handoflixue 30 minutes ago | parent [-]

> for example ability to interpret images

I'm pretty sure blind people are conscious despite that.

	▲	i000 10 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Hmm.The point was that people with Alzheimers have trouble interpreting images, and obviously remain concious until the latest stages of their disease.

▲

Serenacula an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Why exactly should consciousness require the ability for internal state to change? That seems like a fairly arbitrary requirement to me.

Even if we allow it, from a certain perspective it does change, otherwise each token output would be identical. They are not.

	▲	michaelmrose 18 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		First you have to define consciousness. I don't see how you do that without self-reference and state transitions.