I genuinely wonder how well comments like this will age. Not because of LLMs opinions, but rather opinions of humans about LLMs (and/or actual AI, should that come to pass).
At its core LLM / agent systems such as this consists of a weights file (essentially a long list of numbers) and a reasonably straightforward algorithm that you could, given enough time, operate with a pen and paper.
There's a lot of seeing faces on toast going on, here.
They're clearly not. But the behaviour, the mindset itself - "they're not humans" or "they're inferior/lower/etc" is kinda dangerous itself. Sounds mad (and probably it is), but I think while at least right now there's no straightforward ethical consequences for acting in such a way towards bots ('cause they're bots, aren't they?), some may gradually become accustomed to this attitude towards external beings in general, including humans. Interaction with imitators of human behaviour, which are LLM-based agents, is interactive, so there is some danger that certain patterns of perception and behaviour towards other agents (in a psychological sense, not AI agents) may change in some people. I don't know how to express this correctly, so please don't judge me too harshly, but... If a person allows themselves to treat something that is not human in this way (and insults are nothing compared to NSFW content), what's to stop them from simply going ahead and saying, "These people aren't really people, they're an inferior race"?
I don't know... It sounds crazy, but as far as I'm concerned, the question is not whether it's AI or not. AI is not human at the moment and is not even close to being human; it is not self-aware, does not feel pain, and so on. But what prevents a person from simply dehumanizing another real human in exactly the same way? Is it just that "this is a real person, it's different"? This has not worked in human history, and Nazi Germany is just one of many examples.
From bots to Nazis is really quite the jump. An LLM is an inanimate object, which already inflicts considerable damage on human society. They can literally not be dehumanized. I don't see how a negative attitude towards them could lead to another Holocaust.
Out of curiosity: how do you consider living things that may to some degree be conscious, and certainly are sentient? Apes? Pigs? Dogs? Mice and rats, perhaps?
