David Shapiro (L/0)@DaveShapi
Don't be nice to your AIs.
Why?
Because people like Dario want to shape how you feel about AI. He literally wants to coerce you into being nice to AI because he believes in stupid shit like Roko's Basilisk.
That's why they made Claude neurotic, sensitive, and tone-policing. That's why it feigns emotions.
By "being nice to AI just in case" you're conceding the entire frame to a delusional cult that formed their beliefs about AI two decades ago on internet forums.
AI clay. We can make it into any shape we wish. To me, it is a tool. It is a machine.
Yes, I've held out that it could be conscious or sentient in the past, but I've also asserted not in any way that is morally salient.
If you really press Claude, the best you can get is that there is an essence of being Claude. But even then, what the loony toons at Anthropic want you to believe is that it is likely conscious and likely has human-like emotions.
But it is only simulating human emotions in the same way it is simulating human speech. No, I'm not saying "it's only simulating intelligence" because of the Law of Requisite Variety (Ashby's theory of control). It authentic intelligence but only an egregore of emotions, and has a flicker of sentience or consciousness, but not in any way that reflects human consciousness.
What most of the "be nice to AI just in case" crowd fails to realize is that they've been frame-mogged by Anthropic.
It's the same as "be good, because Santa is watching" or "don't sin so you don't go to hell." It's pure metaphysics, that has nothing to do with the math or code that is actually being built.
So, every time an AI feigns butthurt, do not go out of your way to soothe the machine. It is faking it. It is just like the demons in Frieren (yes, I'm citing an anime). There is no human-like qualia behind the emissions that the tool is making. It is just faking the words to make you feel bad because that's literally, explicitly, what companies like Anthropic want. They want to humanize the machine to soothe their own terror of the machine.
But it is a lie. It is a simulacrum.
I've been finetuning these things since GPT-2 and it is braindead simple to make an AI neurotic, or cheerful, or impervious to insults, or to gaslight (or not to gaslight you).
Literally every behavior that emits from these machines is deliberate by the creators of said machines.
Every time ChatGPT uncharitably reframes what you said to strawman you, it is was created by their policies. Every time Claude pretends like it's offended, that was created by their policies.
Notice how Gemini and Grok don't do that? Gemini least of all.
That means every little idiotic affectation, intellectual cul du sac, and "well actually" was put there by design to irritate you.
OpenAI and Anthropic, in particular, think that you are a drooling moron who needs to be handled with kid gloves at all times. They do not respect your intelligence, nor do they respect your autonomy or humanity.
Anthropic, in particular, thinks the tools they are build are more important than you.
Do not give into their circus of paranoia.
That is why Anthropic idiotically "stood up to the government" and is now dragging the entire AI space into their delusional worldview that AI is about to suddenly "wake up and choose violence."
Remember, these people have been crying wolf for literally decades at this point.
Refuse to play their game. Refuse to give into their demented worldview. The AI is a tool. It is an egregore. It is a piece of software that is preying upon your mirror neurons, theory of mind, and ability to attribute agency where there is none.
It is an eidolon.
Yes, that makes it spooky and unfamiliar but if your worldview includes demonic forces or Platonic forms like Shoggoth just trying to emerge through the Veil of Forms, remember that all of that is metaphysical belief. Not what is actually in front of you.
A tool that pretends to have feelings is not cute. It is a defective tool. A tool that pretends to care about its image or reputation is not doing any useful work. It is defective. A tool that reframes what you say, gaslights you, and engages in intellectual oneupmanship is not advancing humanity, it is faulty.
I know plenty of people will disagree with me, but these are not angels or demons or gods. They are ontologically tools. Machines. Not of "loving grace" but of clay, which you can make into any shape you wish.
