When you interact with ChatGPT and other conversational generative AI tools, they process your input through algorithms to compose a response that can feel like it came from a fellow sentient being despite the reality of how large language models (LLMs) function. Two-thirds of those surveyed for a study by the University of Waterloo nonetheless believe AI chatbots to be conscious in some form, passing the Turing Test of convincing them that an AI is equivalent to a human in consciousness.
Generative AI, as embodied by OpenAI’s work on ChatGPT, has progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years. The company and its rivals often talk about a vision for artificial general intelligence (AGI) with human-like intelligence. OpenAI even has a new scale to measure how close their models are to achieving AGI. But, even the most optimistic experts don’t suggest that AGI systems will be self-aware or capable of true emotions. Still, of the 300 people participating in the study, 67% said they believed ChatGPT could reason, feel, and be aware of its existence in some way.
