What would it take for us to grant even minimal ethical status to AIs? This essay argues we may already be ignoring key signs.

The document mentioned in the text has some pretty disturbing stuff. I have seen a lot of this, people saying AIs are acting "too real" (we’re literally seeing OpenAI back off from a “GPT-5 only” release after backlash because people got emotionally attached to their customized 4o-based “partners” and “friends”). What do you guys think this behavior really means? To be honest I don't think this article's idea is too far fetched, considering the race to reach AGI, the billions being spent and the secrecy of the AI tech companies these days.