# Moral implications of AI

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-implications-of-ai/205016>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 1, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-implications-of-ai/205016 "2003-10-01T23:27:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-implications-of-ai/205016/121 "2003-10-08T16:47:28Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dakravel \*  
> \*\*A test that, if passed, implied that the being had the capability of whatever was being tested. \*\*

Ah yes, Turing’s famous test of the damned obvious, it all comes back now.

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**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-implications-of-ai/205016/122 "2003-10-09T18:47:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dakravel \*  
> \*\*…there is absolutely no way to determine the sentience or self-awareness of some other person or machine short of actually experiencing that person or machine’s point of view. \*\*

I think that comment is meaningless. If I could somehow experience everything that you experience, that wouldn’t prove one way or another that you are sentient. The reason being it would still be _me_ having those experiences. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a _you_ to have them. If you see what I mean.

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**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moral-implications-of-ai/205016/123 "2003-10-10T06:01:14Z")

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If you could experience everything, I mean EVERYTHING, including thoughts, feelings, et cetera, from that machine’s point of view. That is what I meant, and that is, at this point in time, impossible. And the comment isn’t meaningless regardless, it’s simply stating that it’s impossible to gauge sentience to an exact degree at this point in time.

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