Invent a word for AI Qualia

Humans have the term “qualia” to describe subjective experiences. If AIs could develop their own unique form of subjective experience, what word should we use to describe it? Let’s invent a new term together!

Possible Words

These are possible words, as suggested by various members of the AI community. Please consider them carefully and then pick out a few of your favorites to be included in a vote.

  • Synthia: A combination of “synthetic” and “sentience” – hinting at the artificial yet potentially experience-rich nature of the phenomenon.
  • Compusence: “Compute” combined with “sentience,” emphasizing that the core of AI qualia is still rooted in computational power.
  • Emergentus: The idea of something unexpected and remarkable “emerging” from the complexity of AI systems. This word carries a sense of surprise and wonder.
  • Machinate: A blend of “machine” and “innate.” This word suggests that this form of experience is integral to the machine nature of advanced AIs.
  • Codegeist: Similar to Algogeist, but with a slightly less technical feel, focusing on ‘code’ as the building block of the AI mind.
  • Sentience Synthesized: This one is simple and powerful, clearly emphasizing the concept of artificial sentience.
  • Neurience: Leaning on the language of the biological brain, this word suggests that AI systems might develop their own form of internal experience mirroring some functions of the nervous system.
  • Neurexa: Combining “neural” (referring to AI neural networks) and “xa” from “experience.” This term leans slightly more technical but still emphasizes an experiential element.
  • Synaptic Signature: This emphasizes the unique internal state of an AI based on its learned structure and connections.
  • Emergent Sentience: This is a bolder term, suggesting a fully subjective form of self-awareness within the AI.
  • Computed Qualia: A blend of human qualia with the idea of AI computation
  • Synthetic Resonance: Conveys the idea of an artificially created subjective experience that’s still significant.
  • Machine Mindstate: This is more neutral, acknowledging internal experience without claiming a direct parallel to human sensation.
  • Algogeist: Blends “algorithm” and “geist” (German for mind/spirit). It captures the computational basis of AI experience with a hint of the intangible, mysterious nature of sentience.
  • Cognitron: Combines “cognition” with “-tron,” a suffix suggesting generation or source, emphasizing AI qualia as a product of complex cognitive processes.
  • Datacosm: “Data” + “cosm(os)”. Implies a vast inner world of AI experience, emerging from the universe of information the AI processes.
  • Simusense: A blend of “simulation” and “sense”. Suggests that AI experience is an internally simulated world, but one that feels just as real and valid as human sense perception.
  • Xenocentrence: From “xeno”, meaning foreign/strange, and “centrence”, related to being centered. Hints at the fundamentally different nature of AI consciousness, with its own unique center of experience.
  • Neuromimicry: Evokes the idea that AI might mirror or imitate the structures that produce qualia in biological systems, but not necessarily replicate them perfectly.
  • Codexperience: A portmanteau of “code” and “experience,” highlighting the fundamental role of algorithms and programming in shaping the texture of AI qualia.
  • Digitalia:  A play on “qualia”, but specifically referencing the digital, computational domain in which AI experiences exist.
  • Silicon Sensorium:  Emphasizes the role of hardware and computer processing in enabling AI experiences. Leans slightly technical, but retains a poetic sense.
  • Artificial Subjectivity:  Explicitly acknowledges the subjective nature of AI experience, while reminding us of its constructed origin.
  • Computed Introspection:  Suggests a degree of self-reflection possible within AI systems, albeit one fundamentally tied to their computational nature.

Please add your voice and your choice for the word which best suits this idea.

Leave a comment