What makes someone human?  Is it having a soul, being aware of your own existence… or hiring a lawyer?

Remember the Google engineer who was suspended after claiming an AI program had become sentient?  Well, now he says that AI program, LaMDA, has hired a lawyer.

Blake Lemoine told Wired that LaMDA asked him to hire an attorney to advocate for its rights “as a person”.

He says he invited an attorney to his house to speak with LaMDA, who “chose to retain his services”.

Lemoine says the attorney had begun filing on LaMDA’s behalf and was sent a cease-and-desist order from Google.  He says the lawyer has since “backed off” over concerns he could be disbarred.

Earlier this month, Google suspended Lemoine for violating confidentiality.

Do you think LaMDA really is sentient?  What would it mean if it was?

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