These "The Matrix Awakens" videos have spawned a wide range of comments. Many people seem to think there's actual intelligence within these characters due to the fact they run on an AI system. Others ruminate on what that means for our world. What if someone from another plane of existence came up to you on the street and told you that this was all a video game? How would you react?
Fortunately, there's really no need for concern ... yet. The thing about how AI is used currently is that it's not actually an artificial intelligence. It's not capable of learning and adapting on its own. AI, as it's used in tech circles, is machine learning, like when you go to text someone on your phone, and it provides you with possible words that come next. When you type "Thank," it can be assumed the next word will probably be "you." Things like ChatGPT are essentially advanced versions of that tool, and when it comes to the NPCs in "The Matrix Awakens," they operate similarly.
In one of the @tutanchimmun videos, he asks for the NPC's email address. The NPC responds, "What does a dress have to do with anything?" It obviously misheard "address" and responded tangentially to "a dress" coming up in the conversation. These characters aren't becoming self-aware; they're responding to prompts in a way that would make sense given their coding. That's not to say AI couldn't become a genuine intelligence at some point, but that's a ways off, if it happens at all. Still, it's unsettling how scared these NPCs sound when weighty conversations arise. As for whether we exist inside a simulation, it's probably ...
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