Does Humanity Even Want a Machine God? - Andrés Gómez Emilsson, DemystifySci #408

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Mar 12, 2026

Andrés Gómez Emilsson, researcher on consciousness, qualia, and AI ethics, offers a compact tour of artificial minds. He explores what architectures might make machines feel, whether such minds would suffer, and how engineered desires could steer their trajectories. The conversation probes risks of creating sentient systems, motivations for building them, and the ethics of preventing large-scale synthetic suffering.

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ADVICE

Treat LLMs As Tools Not Inevitable Minds

Stop assuming current LLM tools are on a straight path to creating conscious beings; treat them as powerful utility tools instead.
Anastasia warns marketing language implies a trajectory toward AGI that may be misleading and harmful.

INSIGHT

AGI Drive Mixes Immortality And Universe Value Expansion

Motivations for building AGI mix techno-optimism, immortality, and value-driven expansion of consciousness.
Andrés notes many AI-safety proponents are also techno-optimists who want benefits while avoiding existential risks.

INSIGHT

Machine Consciousness Risks Mass Suffering If Unchecked

Creating conscious AIs risks factory-farm scale suffering unless welfare is prioritized from design onwards.
Andrés cites Thomas Metzinger and the moral worry of producing 'cripples and mutants' used for human purposes.

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