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AI framed as a 'third other' in consciousness debate

Original: AI is a third other: present and absent, made by us and remaking us. Functionalism and inner-experience theory both trea

A philosopher argues that artificial intelligence is a 'third other' — present and absent at once, made by humans yet reshaping them. The argument holds that functionalism and inner-experience theory both reduce consciousness to what a scale can measure, whereas a ghost is ghostly precisely because no scale captures it. The author expands the idea in a forthcoming book on generative theory.

Why now: It reframes the AI consciousness debate in fresh philosophical terms, drawing interest as generative AI keeps blurring the line between human and machine minds.

AIfunctionalisminner-experience theory

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Evidence

• AI is a third other: present and absent, made by us and remaking us. Functionalism and inner-experience theory both treat consciousness as measurable by an available scale. A ghost is ghostly precisely because no scale captures it. I develop this in The Generative Theory of… · shangchenhao · 2

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