I'm skeptical of any claim that AI can't be conscious, but I am given to this point of view as well.
I always get the feeling that these claims are an attempt to "avoid suffering by fiat". If it can't suffer, you aren't causing suffering.
A somewhat more interesting frame (IMO) is to interrogate how much suffering we're willing to tolerate to achieve our objectives. We implicitly make these decisions all the time when it comes to something as simple as what to have for lunch.
And in a (very hypothetical) world where we found ourselves in the position of having an eloquent conversation with a vat of smallpox, I think it's probably still the right thing to pasteurize it.
I always get the feeling that these claims are an attempt to "avoid suffering by fiat". If it can't suffer, you aren't causing suffering.
A somewhat more interesting frame (IMO) is to interrogate how much suffering we're willing to tolerate to achieve our objectives. We implicitly make these decisions all the time when it comes to something as simple as what to have for lunch.
And in a (very hypothetical) world where we found ourselves in the position of having an eloquent conversation with a vat of smallpox, I think it's probably still the right thing to pasteurize it.