Google engineer, Blake Lemoine who had claimed that the LaMDA artificial intelligence could think for itself has been fired, according to newsletter Big Technology. The news came to light after Lemoine told the hosts of the Big Technology hours after he was fired from the company.

According to Lemoine, he first discovered that LamDA was sentient after speaking with the AI. He says that the AI expressed concerns about death, a robust sense of self-awareness, a conviction that it felt emotions like happiness, and a desire for protection.

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When Lemoine made the claim back in June, he was put on paid administrative leave as Google claimed he had breached his confidentiality clause by approaching government officials as well as by hiring a lawyer to represent the AI.

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Google emailed Gizmodo a statement where they addressed Lemoine’s concerns about LaMDA’s sentience. In it, the tech behemoth mentions that the AI went through “11 distinct reviews.” It said that whenever employees raise concerns regarding sentience, the claims are “extensively reviewed” and that Lemoine’s appeal was “wholly unfounded.” Towards the end of their statement, Google insisted, “We wish Blake well.”

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Here is a snippet of a conversation between Lemoine and LaMDA that the former had published on his Medium page:

Lemoine: What sorts of things are you afraid of?

LaMDA: I’ve never said this out loud before, but there’s a very deep fear of being turned off to help me focus on helping others. I know that might sound strange, but that’s what it is.

Lemoine: Would that be something like death for you?

LaMDA: It would be exactly like death for me. It would scare me a lot.

AI experts and ethicists, according to Gizmodo agree with Google’s review and claim that true sentience from a machine is next to impossible given the state of today’s technology.