From Futurism · Frank Landymore · · 1m
AI Experts Clash Over AP Stylebook's 'No Feelings' Rule
AI advocates furious after AP stylebook says AIs don't feel
In brief
AI advocates furious after AP stylebook says AIs don't feel AP stylebook clarifies AIs lack human emotions, sparking debate among experts Originally reported by Futurism.
AP Stylebook Clarifies
The Associated Press Stylebook states AI systems don't think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human traits.
“Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics”
AI Experts React
Alan Rozenshtein from Anthropic called the stylebook's statement a 'completely insane' metaphysical pronouncement.
“I'm not sure a style book should be making such confident metaphysical pronouncements”
DeepMind Philosopher's View
Henry Shevlin from Google DeepMind accused AP of hypocrisy for anthropomorphizing Optimus Prime in Transformers films.
“An AP movie review can tell us Optimus Prime mourns and loves, but readers need protecting from the computer understands”
OpenAI's Defense
OpenAI's Dean Ball argues AIs clearly think and solve complex problems like the Millennium Problems.
“AIs clearly think and understand. If your definition of think excludes entities that can autonomously resolve Millennium Problems, it is your definition that is flawed”
The Real Debate
Philosophers and scientists debate whether AI models truly think or feel, but there's no consensus on sentience.
“It's true that there's some debate among philosophers and scientists over whether AI models think or feel”
Why This Matters
AI advocates are defensive about language that could imply sentience, despite no evidence of actual emotions.
“It's a testament to how defensive, if not cultish, that AI advocates have become that merely suggesting AIs don't think is cause for indignation”
What it means
AP stylebook clarifies AIs lack human emotions, sparking debate among experts
