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AI Delusions: Why GPT Models Are Delusional, Not Hallucinating
Exploring the Mind-Bending Paradox of Artificial Consciousness in the World of Generative AI Models
Generative AI models like GPT-4 have taken the world by storm, offering unprecedented capabilities in natural language processing and generation. As powerful as these models are, they have their limitations. One issue often raised is that they sometimes produce false or nonsensical information. Critics as well as the creators of generative AI models like GPT often claim that these models are “hallucinating,” but that’s not accurate. In fact, they are delusional rather than hallucinating. Here we’ll explore the distinction between these two states and demonstrate how AI models like GPT-4 exhibit delusional behaviour and consider why such inquiry could inform the future development of artificial consciousness.
Hallucination vs. Delusion
Hallucination is a false perception involving one’s senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Hallucinations appear real but aren’t, and they’re caused by chemical reactions or abnormalities in the brain. AI doesn’t have senses or chemical reactions, so it cannot hallucinate by definition.
Delusion, on the other hand, is a false belief based on incorrect inferences about external reality, held firmly despite…
