LLMs can absolutely generate output without input but we don’t have zero input. We don’t exist in a floating void with no light or sound or touch or heat or feelings from our own body.

But again this doesn’t see to be the same thing as thinking. If I could only reply to you when you send me a message but could reason through any problem we discuss just like “able to want a walk” me could, would that mean I no longer could think? I think these are different issues.

On that though, these see trivially solvable with loops and a bit of memory to write to and read from - would that really make the difference for you? A box setup to run continuously like this would be thinking?