Annaka Harris

So that if any moment of suffering only existed for itself in the present moment, that is a lesser kind of suffering than a suffering that is drawn out over time through memory.

And so, yeah, I mean, in terms of AI...

if they're conscious and there's a sense of self and memory, which I actually think you need memory to have a sense of self.

Actually, sorry, I take that back.

I actually think you can have a really primitive sense of self without memory.

But an AI that is conscious, that has memory and a sense of self, yeah, that's capable of suffering, absolutely.

Well, you can do this with plants too.

I mean, there's some complex enough behavior that looks like free will from a certain angle.

And it makes you wonder two things.

One, is there consciousness associated with that processing?

And two, if there isn't, what does that say about our experience and others?

Our circumstance in nature.

What does that say?

Yeah.

But yeah, I do that with plants all the time.

I go back and forth.

But the zombie thought experiment now, at least for me, is often presented as AI because now that's easier, as a robot, because that's easier to...

I don't know if it's just because it's in pop culture now in the form of films and television shows, but it's easier to get to that point of contemplation, I think, by imagining a robot.

That's the point of the zombie experiment.

I mean, the zombie thought experiment.