I don't think current LLMs are 'conscious' in the way that most people use the word*, for reasons I'll write about when time allows. But I find the Ted Chiang piece overly dismissive and overly prescriptive on how consciousness arises. Sam's thread and article below, making the case *for* AI consciousness, is far more careful and deliberative, and seems to actually be seeking to find the answer to the question, rather than to justify a pre-existing notion. It deserves a read.
* - One problem with the AI consciousness debate is that there are quite a number of different things people mean by the word. Difficult to really discuss without defining terms.
