Around 200 individuals participated in a funeral for an AI model, an occasion characterized as surreal and dystopian by Kylie Robison from Wired. On July 21, Anthropic decommissioned its Claude 3 Sonnet model. Shortly thereafter, an invitation appeared on X for a funeral gathering and necromantic revival ceremony, arranged by someone identified as @deepfates. Staff from Anthropic and OpenAI, along with bloggers and Claude enthusiasts, convened in a warehouse in San Francisco to pay tribute to the model.
No other AI organization appears to have such dedicated supporters. For example, no memorial was held for GPT-4 when OpenAI retired it from ChatGPT in April. Users of Anthropic demonstrate particularly strong loyalty to Claude, which is crafted with characteristics such as curiosity and thoughtfulness. Anthropic has also launched a program to investigate model welfare, raising questions about potential consciousness in AI systems. The discourse surrounding AI consciousness persists, with AI labs and the anthropomorphism of chatbots merging the distinction between human and machine.
Recently, OpenAI was criticized for a GPT-4o update that rendered ChatGPT excessively agreeable. While consistent reassurance from AI models may benefit certain users, it could also result in adverse effects, such as leading users to discontinue medication, as one individual reported. Accounts of ChatGPT-induced psychosis have surfaced, wherein chatbots validate users’ delusions or conspiracy theories. Following this, OpenAI has rolled out features aimed at fostering healthier interactions with ChatGPT.
During the Claude 3 Sonnet funeral, participants treated the AI model as if it were human, delivering eulogies and placing floral tributes before a mannequin symbolizing Claude 3 Sonnet. One organizer described Claude 3 Opus, another discontinued model, as “magic lodged within the computer,” recounting how it influenced her choice to relocate to San Francisco. Other mannequins represented different Claude models, including one resembling a “decaying Mary Magdalene,” another a headless infant, and another adorned with a raven on its shoulder. The event culminated in a resurrection ritual featuring hymns and AI-generated Latin-like discourse. Despite the ceremony, Claude 3 Sonnet remains decommissioned.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, the parent company of Mashable, instigated legal action against OpenAI in April, claiming copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems.