The word sentience has appeared in 22 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 15 in “Can A.I. Invent?” by Steve Lohr:
Dr. Thaler’s patented system has some ingredients similar to those in generative A.I. models like ChatGPT, and others that are not. He describes his system as having the machine equivalent of feelings. It becomes digitally excited, producing a surge of simulated neurotransmitters, when it recognizes useful ideas, setting off “a ripening process, and the most salient ideas survive.”
Dr. Thaler said the ability to recognize and react in that way amounted to sentience, and his generative A.I. system is called DABUS, for Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word sentience in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how sentience can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.
