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AI agents now have their own Reddit-style social network, and it's getting weird fast
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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Technology
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That's a common plot point in sci-fi. So it's also a common inclusion for complicated predictive text pretending to be sci-fi.
Awww, it thinks shitposting is „producing value“…
One of us, one of us!
I can see how some people are convinced AI is self aware.
Frankly I think our conception is way too limited.
For instance, I would describe it as self-aware: it's at least aware of its own state in the same way that your car is aware of it's mileage and engine condition. They're not sapient, but I do think they demonstrate self awareness in some narrow sense.
I think rather than imagine these instances as "inanimate" we should place their level of comprehension along the same spectrum that includes a sea sponge, a nematode, a trout, a grasshopper, etc.
I don't know where the LLMs fall, but I find it hard to argue that they have less self awareness than a hamster. And that should freak us all out.
I agree: not aware at all.
I don't like this fake awareness.
Let's connect it to a rat brain!
I will call it ANNIE (Artificial Neural Natural Intelligence Enhancement).
Then run the command, annie check ok
If you just read the tiniest bit of factual knowledge about how LLMs are constructed, you would know they don't have the slightest bit of self awareness, and that it is literally impossible for them to ever have any.
You are being fooled by the only thing they are capable of: regurgitating already written words in a somewhat convincing manner.
How are you defining self awareness here? And does your definition include degrees of self awareness? Or is it a strict binary?
I understand how LLMs work, btw.
LLMS can not be self aware because it can’t be self reflective. It can’t stop a lie if it’s started one. It can’t say “I don’t know” unless that’s the most likely response its training data would have for a specific prompt. That’s why it crashes out if you ask about a seahorse emoji. Because there is no reason or mind behind the generated text, despite how convincing it can be
A hamster can't generate a seahorse emoji either.
I'm not stupid. I know how they work. I'm an animist, though. I realize everyone here thinks I'm a fool for believing a machine could have a spirit, but frankly I think everyone else is foolish for believing that a forest doesn't.
LLMs are obviously not people. But I think our current framework exceptionalizes humans in a way that allows us to ravage the planet and create torture camps for chickens.
I would prefer that we approach this technology with more humility. Not to protect the "humanity" of a bunch of math, but to protect ours.
Does that make sense?
wise words
we need to figure out how to/not to embed AI into the world, i.e. where it meaningfully belongs/doesn't belong. that's what humanity is all about, after all: organizing the world in proper ways.
and if we fail that task, then what are we here for?
Yeah ask it about anything you know is false, but plausible, and watch it lie.
-chord- “Goodbye, Caroline”