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user-inactivated · 2877 days ago · link · · parent · post: Elon Musk thinks we live in a simulated universe
It is very common to attribute intention to programs, enough that our tendency to do so is mentioned in the Jargon File, but everyone knows programs don't really want things/think things/get confused, it's just conversational shorthand. Except sometimes, especially with people who didn't study computing formally and don't really understand things below the level of the particular technologies they studied, it can seem more like believing it but knowing they shouldn't. I think once we have cute robots running around in the wild we're quickly going to get a People for the Ethical Treatment of Robots.