Blake Lemoine raised a stink over Google's LaMDA being conscious last year. After fooling around with ChatGPT in hopes of seeing if it's true, The Anomalist presumes the current state of 'artificial intelligence' is a souped-up ELIZA with better public relations. For the conspiracy-minded, like Lemoine, Susan Schneider gives Alexis Papazoglou her angle on Big Tech's struggle to keep A.I. from becoming too smart for its own good. On the other side of the coin Oliver Whang at the New York Times has a different tack on how 'Consciousness' In Robots Was Once Taboo. Now It's the Last Word. Whiplash? Yes. Yet both articles make strong, yet contrary points about artificial intelligence either formenting a robot rebellion or leading humanity to a bright future. Our only question for Oliver — How can anyone discuss or even detect consciousness if there is no consensus on the nature of consciousness in the first place? (CS)-- Delivered by Feed43 serviceTHE ANOMALIST