Mistaking AI behaviour for conscious being | Letter

Dr Simon Nieder responds to Richard Dawkins’ encounters with a chatbot Richard Dawkins’ reflections on AI consciousness are striking - not because they show that machines have crossed some hidden threshold into inner life, but because they reveal how readily we can be persuaded that they have ( Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious, even if it doesn’t know it, 5 May ). Many will recognise the experience: a system that responds with fluency, humour and apparent understanding. At some point, simulation starts to feel like presence.