Pragmatic Anthropomorphism: Treating LLMs as collaborators, not conscious beings
Developer argues the consciousness debate misses the point—what matters is how you actually work with AI systems.
What to know
- The endless debate over whether LLMs possess consciousness or true understanding obscures the practical reality of working with them effectively.
- Consciousness in biological systems depends on substrates—pain, mortality, metabolic need—that silicon systems lack, making anthropomorphic ethical frameworks a category error.
- Treating LLMs as competent collaborators and communicating respectfully yields better results than either fetishizing them as conscious entities or dismissing them as tricks.
L. Morchard Developer and essayistMichał Zalewski Technologist and writer
Douglas Hofstadter Cognitive scientist and author
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage posts
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Developer agrees on practical benefits of respectful interaction
Nolan on Mastodon endorses the pragmatic approach, noting that saying "please" and "thank you" and conversational patience may yield better results, framing LLM use as collaborative roleplay.
“This is a great way to think about it. Maybe I get better results because I say "please" and "thank you" (yes really) and talk patiently and conversationally.”
— nolan@toot.cafe -
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"I read Gödel, Escher, Bach in high school, and it warped my brain. In that book and later in I Am a Strange Loop, Hofstadter argued that human consciousness arises from an intricate, self-referential feedback loop. A system of symbols acquires the ability to reflect upon itself, crossing hierarchical levels until an "I" emerges from the tangle…
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background
Morchard publishes essay on pragmatic use of LLMs — L. Morchard posts "Pragmatic Anthropomorphism, or: How to Talk to an Autocompleting Cricket," arguing that the consciousness debate around LLMs misses what's useful in practice. The essay cites Michał Zalewski's recent piece "The 'C' word" as catalyst, which critiques endless discourse on machine consciousness.