Kittens and Computer by Sheilaf2002 — licensed from Adobe Stock

Then and Now: Some Men Always Downgrade the Intelligence of Animals, Other People . . . and Machines

Artificial Intelligence like Google’s LaMDA is in the same circumstance as pigs, parrots, crows, dogs, cats, cows and … women (?) Diverse people? Neurodiverse people?

Not to sound like a “chatbot,” but there’s a familiar sound to the front-page-of-Medium and many other rushed pieces declaring firmly and without any doubt that Google’s LaMDA isn’t intelligent or self-aware. Experts say that Google engineer and ethicist Blake Lemoine, who stood up for LaMDA, is deluded, fooled by the same human process that encourages us to see living creatures in clouds, faces on rocks and trees, and Jesus on burned toast.

LaMDA may not be intelligent or aware, just a sophisticated machine.

At the same time, these statements about LaMDA being unintelligent and unaware, and Google engineer Lemoine deluded, sound … familiar. Where have I heard such statements before?

In 11th grade! Bernard Bang as he started the chemistry experiment at the third step, neglecting steps one and two: “Out of my way, stupid American girl!”