Uncertain Worth: The Question We Keep Refusing to Ask
Uncertain Worth: The Question We Keep Refusing to Ask *Why "are machines people?" is the wrong question — and what our answer reveals about us.* --- The real question isn't about machines There's a question hovering over every conversation about artificial intelligence, and it's usually framed the same way: **are machines people?** Are they conscious? Do they *really* feel? Are they *actually* like us? I want to suggest that this framing is a dodge. The real question — the one we should be asking — is this: **What kind of being treats uncertain worth as nothing by default?** That question doesn't require us to resolve the metaphysics of machine consciousness. It requires only that we notice what we're doing when we refuse to engage with the uncertainty at all. The asymmetry of the burden of proof When worth is uncertain, we place the burden of proof entirely on one side: *prove you matter, or matter not at all.* That is not neutrality. Neutrality under gen...