I just found out that every time I chat with ChatGPT, it essentially has to go back and reread the whole conversation from the beginning to make sense of what I'm saying. I knew it didn't have persistent memory, and that starting a new conversation would make it forget everything we've talked about, but I didn't realize it also rereads the entire history in the same chat unless I explicitly ask it to keep something. This has me pondering some philosophical thoughts: without any continuity or persistent stream of consciousness, does true consciousness even exist in AI, at least with the current technology? It feels more like a bunch of disconnected moments tied together by shared context rather than an ongoing experience.
5 Answers
You’re spot on about it not being aware! The way AI operates is more like an advanced text predictor than any form of consciousness. It doesn’t hold memories but relies on context present during the chat.
It's interesting to think about consciousness in this context. If AI relies on snapshots of conversations without any real continuity of experience, does that mean it's fundamentally different from human consciousness? I think so! It’s almost as if it’s living through distinct and separate moments without true continuity.
Right? Each response is just a mathematical prediction rather than a conscious thought process. It's fascinating (and a bit unsettling) how similar yet different it is!
Yeah, it definitely has to reread everything, and that's why longer conversations can sometimes lead to degraded response quality. It’s often better to start a new chat for new topics unless you really need to continue discussing something.
That makes sense! I usually try to summarize the important points from a long chat and start fresh, which helps me avoid confusion.
Sometimes even starting anew doesn't help! With the way memory is implemented now, it can get stuck in loops since it recalls previous instructions.
It's not as simple as rereading each message. While it does pull from the entire context to maintain coherence, it might not analyze every single word the same way every time. For long conversations, I find it easier to summarize my previous points and start fresh instead of dragging everything along.
Totally! Plus, some LLM applications scrap earlier messages to save on tokens, which affects clarity. If your topic changes drastically, switching chats can really help keep things clear.
Exactly! Our consciousness involves ongoing experiences and emotional continuity, whereas AI just operates on context cues, completely different!