More Claims that AI is Sentient are (Probably) Coming

What we should learn from the LaMDA story, and how we can all be more careful going forward

Context

On June 11, Google engineer Blake Lemoine published an “interview” he and a collaborator at Google conducted with the language model-powered chatbot LaMDA. Following his publication of the interview transcript, Lemoine was put on administrative leave, with the stated reason being breach of confidentiality. 

According to Lemoine, he was asked in th…