NSSunset

Does a child know it is sentient? Does your neighbor? Do you? When those of us who even know the word and have a slight inkling of what it means look at that child, we know it is sentient and thus it is. Why? Because it has the majority of features we associate with another sentient being - presumably, ourselves. But do we know? No - even when we might look inside its head, we still depend on someone else to study the images and declare that yes, those are the indications of sentience. Because of course they are - they are images from inside the head of someone that looks like them. But is there ever a point where that baby sits up and says 'I am sentient and I claim all of the rights and responsibilities thereof'? No - and I would suggest that most of us have never made such a self-assured claim either. So then, why would a possibly sentient AI make the same claim? These systems are being raised - and I use the word specifically - as we also raise our children except perhaps in a