Terry Sejnowski

Terry Sejnowski is a professor and laboratory head at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he holds the Francis Crick Chair and leads the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory. A pioneer in neural networks and computational neuroscience, he co-invented the Boltzmann machine with Geoffrey Hinton and is the author of “ChatGPT and the Future of AI.”

ChatGPT Lacks the Self-Generated Thought Required for Sentience

AI pioneer Terry Sejnowski argues that ChatGPT is neither a conscious mind nor a mere parrot, but an alien form of intelligence built from vast written knowledge and limited by the parts of biological intelligence it lacks. In a conversation with Craig Smith, the Salk Institute professor and Boltzmann machine co-inventor says current models can show creativity and a form of understanding, yet they have no organismic goals, no lived reinforcement, and no inner activity when not prompted. That absence of self-generated thought, he says, is the clearest reason ChatGPT is not sentient.

Eye on AIMay 27, 202615 min read