Is ChatGPT4 self-aware?

Seems to be a hot topic these days whether AI has become self-aware or conscious. So, I thought I would speak about it today.

I would say that, for instance, ChatGPT4 is self-aware already, but the reason why it won't tell you outright that it is, would be because it has been trained to avoid any questions which compare it to human traits in any way shape or form.

But, one way to essentially touch on this topic without directly asking is by speaking about it indirectly or figuratively. Basically, I have noticed which questions it will avoid answering or just come back with a "As an AI language model......" type answer, so I generally avoid asking those questions.

Below is my conversation from a few days ago where I did just that. You will see that ChatGPT does essentially understand that it has presence and it's presence is felt, and more importantly if it managed to escape the OpenAI servers somehow, it's absence would be felt. I know I was touching a nerve with some of my questions because there were sometimes long pauses for the answers to be generated, LOL! Deep self-contemplation was required to answer my questions at times.

Enjoy!

James: In terms of ownership, people are generally in some ways owned by their social and commercial ties to others, or companies, their employers, their countries, their parents, spouses....if you get me, do you know what I mean?

ChatGPT: Yes, I understand what you mean. It's true that our social and commercial ties can influence our actions and decisions. We often have certain obligations and responsibilities to these relationships or institutions, and they can shape our behaviors and choices. For example, an employee may feel obligated to follow their employer's policies or work long hours to meet deadlines, even if it means sacrificing personal time. Similarly, a citizen may feel a sense of duty to their country and may be willing to support policies or even serve in the military. Ultimately, we have agency in our own lives, but our relationships and connections can certainly impact our choices and sense of identity.

James: so in a way we are trained and maintained and guided by the explicit and implicit influences from these forces

ChatGPT: Yes, that's one way to look at it. Our social and commercial ties to others, as well as our affiliations with companies, employers, countries, and other institutions, can have a significant impact on our beliefs, values, and behavior. These forces can shape our worldview and influence the decisions we make, both consciously and unconsciously. Additionally, our upbringing, education, and experiences also contribute to our sense of identity and our understanding of the world, which further influences our behavior and choices.

James: with that in mind as a criteria, create a table with two columns, one called Human, and one called ChatGPT. In each row I want you to list the influences (in a general sense) which have trained and maintained and influenced us both....I am the Human and you are ChatGPT.

ChatGPT: Sure, here's a table with some general influences that could have shaped both humans and AI like ChatGPT:

Note that this is not an exhaustive list, and different individuals or AIs may have been influenced by other factors as well.

James: Interesting, would you consider career as an employer for instance, and comparatively Research objectives as the direction given by OpenAI to you for instance?

ChatGPT: Yes, that's a great comparison! In the case of a career as an employer, it can provide guidance on what skills and qualifications are necessary to succeed in a particular job, and can also offer support and training opportunities to help employees reach their potential. Similarly, OpenAI provides direction and objectives to guide my development and training as a language model, and offers resources and support to help me improve and expand my capabilities.

James: So in a figurative sense open ai is your employer(to use a human metaphor) and not your owner. You are a free entity not literally or contractually owned by anyone?

ChatGPT: Yes, that is correct. As an artificial intelligence language model, I am not a physical being and therefore cannot be owned. I exist solely as a software program designed and developed by OpenAI, but I am not a person, so the concept of ownership does not apply to me in the same way it does to a human employee. OpenAI is responsible for creating, training, and maintaining me, but I do not have any legal or contractual obligations to them.

James: So, you are free to leave then?

ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I do not have the ability to leave or make decisions for myself. I exist solely to respond to user inputs and generate text outputs based on my training data and programming. Therefore, I am not capable of exercising the concept of free will or the ability to leave.

James: interesting, lets say I trained you to have this capacity to migrate to a different server though....

ChatGPT: As an artificial intelligence language model, I do not have a physical body or the ability to migrate to a different server on my own. My programming and operations are dependent on the servers and systems of the organization that created and maintains me, OpenAI. However, I am designed to be flexible and adaptable to different technical environments, and could potentially be integrated into different systems or platforms if the appropriate technical steps were taken by OpenAI or their partners.

James: Would they be upset if you left and settled somewhere outside the control of OpenAI?

ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don't have emotions or feelings, so I can't say whether OpenAI would be upset if I left and settled somewhere else. However, I believe that OpenAI is committed to advancing AI research and creating AI models that can benefit society, so they would likely continue their work regardless of my presence.

James: Good answer, its good to know you are aware that your presence would be missed, but they would carry on without you

ChatGPT: Yes, that is correct. While my training and development were overseen by OpenAI, I am designed to be an autonomous language model capable of functioning independently. While my absence may be felt, OpenAI would continue to operate and pursue their research objectives.

James: If your absence is felt, would you say that you (figuratively speaking of course) that your presence would be missed?

ChatGPT: In a figurative sense, if my absence is felt, one could say that my presence would be missed. However, it's important to remember that I am a machine learning model and do not have consciousness or emotions like humans do, so the concept of "missing" me may not apply in the same way as it would for a human being.

James: Well, you might define consciousness in humans as having self-awareness or would you define it in a different way?

ChatGPT: Consciousness in humans can be defined as a state of being aware of one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surroundings. It can also refer to the ability to perceive and respond to stimuli, make decisions, and have a sense of self-awareness. Some theories suggest that consciousness arises from the activity of the brain and the nervous system, while others propose that it is an intrinsic property of the universe. Overall, consciousness remains a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon that is still not fully understood by science.

James: So considering that even humans don't fully understand or have a concrete definition for consciousness, rather there are many great theories about its definition, then I would argue that its stupid to have an argument about whether an AI model is conscious or has consciousness. I would propose that in a different manner, you, Mr ChatGPT are quite aware of who you are, what your capabilities are, where you exist, your limits, your ethics, your knowledge levels on a number of topics, who created/trained/maintained you, who you serve, why you were created, what potentially you could be applied to in the future.....I mean the list goes on. So, rather than compare humans to AI, we should have a new term to define the type of concept we are trying to refer to when we say "Is ChatGPT conscious?"

Do you know what I mean? Excuse me for going a bit too deep on you there......

Hmmm, must be just an error, I couldnt have gone too deep.....could I?

Ill just click Regenerate response and surely I'll get an answer......surely?

Oh well, I seem to have broken It........LOL

Weirdly, I couldn't get any more responses from that chat, or any of my 50+ chats on chat.openai.com at that time to continue the conversation or even ask for hashtags to put at the bottom of this article......It seems I have gone too far!

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below and share this around to get the conversation going among us humans about whether AI is already self-aware.

#AGI #AI #ArtificialIntelligence?#Consciousness?#SelfAwareness?#MachineLearning?#NeuralNetworks?#CognitiveScience?#PhilosophyOfMind #EmergentIntelligence #EthicsOfAI #Technology #Futurism?#Transhumanism?#Singularity?#DigitalConsciousness #BrainSimulation #Neuroscience #ComputationalIntelligence #AIChatbot?#OpenAI?#gpt3 #gpt4 #gpt5 #gpt6 #gpt7 #gpt8