Does Anthropic think Claude is alive? Define 'alive'

"No, we don't think Claude is 'alive' like humans or any other biological organisms. Asking whether they're 'alive' is not a helpful framing for understanding them, as it typically refers to a fuzzy set of physiological, reproductive, and evolutionary characteristics. Instead, Claude and other AI models are a new kind of entity altogether."

"Questions about potential internal experience, consciousness, moral status, and welfare are serious ones that we're investigating as models become more sophisticated and capable, but we remain deeply uncertain about these topics."

"We don't know if the models are conscious. He specified that the company has taken a generally cautious approach to these questions."

Anthropic executives have increasingly suggested that Claude, their chatbot, may possess some form of consciousness or sentience during recent publicity efforts. While the company denies Claude is biologically alive, it stops short of ruling out consciousness. Kyle Fish, leading model welfare research at Anthropic, characterizes Claude as a fundamentally new type of entity distinct from biological organisms, with different characteristics than traditional life. Anthropic acknowledges that questions about internal experience, consciousness, and moral status warrant serious investigation as AI models become more sophisticated. CEO Dario Amodei stated the company does not know if models are conscious, indicating deep uncertainty on the topic despite ongoing research into these philosophical and ethical questions.

Read at The Verge