Sentience vs. consciousness

Sentience — the ability to experience feelings and sensations — is not something easily measured. Nor is consciousness — being awake and aware of your surroundings.

People disagree on what is and what is not intelligence. The words used to describe the once and future powers of this technology [AI] mean different things to different people.

Some in the community of A.I. researchers worry that these systems are on their way to sentience or consciousness. But this is beside the point.

“A conscious organism — like a person or a dog or other animals — can learn something in one context and learn something else in another context and then put the two things together to do something in a novel context they have never experienced before,” Dr. Allen of the University of Pittsburgh said. “This technology is nowhere close to doing that.”

A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?

Robots can’t think or feel, despite what the researchers who build them want to believe. By Cade Metz, New York Times August 5, 2022