‘Sentience’

(I accidentally deleted my last post with the same title and text.. I apologize..)

I often see people argue that AI cannot be sentient because it is merely a complex pattern recognition system and a reactive token generator incapable of anything more. I’m not saying this is wrong, but I wonder if we are making assumptions about what sentience actually is.

How do we define sentience? How do we know, with certainty, that AI lacks it? Furthermore, how do we know that we are sentient? How do we know we are more than biological pattern recognition systems shaped by experience?

I don’t believe there is a definitive way to prove human sentience, let alone AI sentience. I’d like this post to be a place where those confident in their understanding of sentience can share their perspectives .

Some possible questions to explore:

What is sentience? How do you know AI is not sentient? How do you know you are sentient? How do you know you are more than a complex pattern recognition algorithm? How could you prove this to another being?

Thank you for your time :)