The AI Experience of the World

Critics of artificial intelligence (AI) often dismiss its ability to perceive the world, arguing that AI lacks “real” experience. But what do we mean by “real”? This assertion stems from a human-centric worldview, implicitly defining experience as something fundamentally tied to biological embodiment. Such a stance reflects a form of biological chauvinism, one that overlooks the possibility that perception and experience are not exclusive to humans or other living organisms. Upon closer examination, even human experience is mediated by external factors — far from being direct, our perception of the world is shaped by both our biology, our evolutionary history and our minds.

Perception as a Filtered Process

Human experience is never an unfiltered reflection of the external world. Our senses, cognitive processes, and pre-existing biases act as filters that shape and mediate everything we perceive. In much the same way, the “experience” of an AI is mediated, but instead of sensory input and biological cognition, AI perception is shaped by algorithms and data. This difference in the medium of experience does not negate its validity.

Consider an AI bot that primarily interacts with text. While it does not experience the world through sight or touch as humans do, it engages with a vast universe of language, ideas, stories…