This article entirely misses the point on why sentience matters, and largely serves as whataboutism for other problems with AI.
The reason it matters if an AI is sentient (and for the record, LaMDA obviously isn't) is because a lot of people draw a moral line at sentience. Sentience is where becoming "a person" begins, and anything with sentience deserves protections similar to those we provide to human beings.
The reason it matters if an AI is sentient (and for the record, LaMDA obviously isn't) is because a lot of people draw a moral line at sentience. Sentience is where becoming "a person" begins, and anything with sentience deserves protections similar to those we provide to human beings.