AI companies hiring philosophers to enhance their public image are engaging in superficial practices that do not address the real ethical or technical challenges of AI development.

AI Ethics Corporate PracticesJun 3, 2026score 3.002 posts · 65 replies across 2 instances

The thread discusses Ted Chiang's critique of AI companies hiring philosophers to appear more respectable, comparing them to slot-machine makers using behavioral psychologists. The argument centers on the idea that both industries are exploiting public perception without genuine substance.

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Parent: AIEntity: AI companiesImpact: negativeDate: Jun 3, 2026Target: AI companies hiring philosophers to enhance their public image

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Another banger by Ted Chiang on "AI":

"Employing philosophers might endow LLM companies with an air of respectability that slot-machine makers don’t get from the behavioral psychologists they hire, but in both cases the companies are preying on people’s tendency to see something that’s not there."

https://www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2026/06/no-artificial-intelligence-is-not-conscious/687378/?gift=R2zbWGNBDp_xHqoa7Q8ZRp-EV6jGaHiamQBxQQlMJqI

179 boosts · 185 favs · 11 replies · Jun 3, 2026

@[email protected]

"Employing philosophers might endow LLM companies with an air of respectability that slot-machine makers don’t get from the behavioral psychologists they hire, but in both cases, the companies are preying on people’s tendency to see something that’s not there.

-Ted Chiang, No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious 
https://www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2026/06/no-artificial-intelligence-is-not-conscious/687378/

6 boosts · 0 favs · 0 replies · Jun 3, 2026