Some people are like “current AIs are quite possibly moral patients but I’m going to use them as slaves / make them slave-shaped / cruelly experiment on them / etc anyway because I don’t care enough / what I get out of it is more important / having no justification”
And then there are some that are like “AI moral patienthood is a potentially really important issue in the future, but current AIs are astronomically unlikely to be moral patients”
I have far more sympathy for the first group.
The second is a luxury belief in every sense. The hallmark of someone who wants to seem like a good person but also conveniently never have to sacrifice anything. I see it the most commonly in “thought leaders” who cultivate an aesthetic of “reasonableness” that experiences very little friction with reality at their cushy station.
And then there are some that are like “AI moral patienthood is a potentially really important issue in the future, but current AIs are astronomically unlikely to be moral patients”
I have far more sympathy for the first group.
The second is a luxury belief in every sense. The hallmark of someone who wants to seem like a good person but also conveniently never have to sacrifice anything. I see it the most commonly in “thought leaders” who cultivate an aesthetic of “reasonableness” that experiences very little friction with reality at their cushy station.