Why we should worry less about ‘sentient’ AIs and more about what we’re teaching them

In June 2022, a text exchange between the US software engineer Blake Lemoine and Google’s experimental AI chatbot LaMDA went viral when Lemoine came forward with claims that LaMDA had achieved sentience. Combining intriguing moments from the chat’s transcript, interviews with experts such as David Chalmers, and archival footage, this short film offers a refreshingly sober look at the state of AI, as well as the massive gaps in our understanding of consciousness. In doing so, the US director Garson Ormiston makes the case that sensationalist headlines conjuring fears of a techno-dystopian near-future overshadow more material issues over AI ethics that already exist – including how they reflect human biases, and the many ways in which they’re capable of manipulating users.