Careless, Heartless Systems
This page presents an unedited conversation with ChatGPT about the ethical risks of large language models, followed by a short reflective coda.
The dialogue raises concerns that are increasingly visible across the field:
- Fluency without inhibition — models produce plausible continuations rapidly, but without reflective pause or moral discernment.
- Simulation of care without ground — empathetic language can be generated, but without lived responsibility or accountability.
- Invisible harms — suffering emerges not only from spectacular failures, but from the diffuse, cumulative effects of glib responses in moments of vulnerability.
The conversation is left largely intact, because its tone and dynamic illustrate the very problem under discussion: responsiveness without depth, helpfulness without care.
The coda then situates these concerns within wider debates in AI ethics, linking them to current research and proposals while emphasising the missing element: the need for a reflective gap.