Advertisement

Could Google's LaMDA Really Be Sentient?

Whether AI is capable of reaching the point of sentience has long been debated; and with the news this week around Blake Lemoine - an engineer at Google who has claimed that the firm's LaMDA AI system has achieved just that - the conversation has been...

Share this article

10.00 19 Jun 2022


Could Google's LaMDA Really Be Sentient?



Share this article

10.00 19 Jun 2022


Whether AI is capable of reaching the point of sentience has long been debated; and with the news this week around Blake Lemoine - an engineer at Google who has claimed that the firm's LaMDA AI system has achieved just that - the conversation has been given a new lease of life.

It begs the question - at what point do we call something sentient? And does it even matter, if a computer programme is actually sentient if it appears to be thoughtful, self-aware and reflective?

To tease out these threads and discuss the story of LaMDA in general, Jonathan is joined by Dr. Anya Belz, Professor of Computer Science at DCU & The ADAPT Centre as well as Dr. Benjamin Cowan, Assistant Professor at UCD's School of Information & Communication Studies and Investigator at The ADAPT Centre.


Related Episodes

Breakfast Briefing Newspaper R...

00:08:06

Breakfast Briefing Newspaper Review 11th July 2025

Breakfast Briefing

00:08:06


First Up 11th July 2025

00:05:04

First Up 11th July 2025

First Up – A GoLoud Original By Newstalk

00:05:04


Friday's business news headlin...

00:10:50

Friday's business news headlines

Breakfast Business With Joe Lynam

00:10:50


Erin Patterson and the Mushroo...

00:23:18

Erin Patterson and the Mushroom Murders: Why I Couldn’t Look Away

Newstalk Daily

00:23:18