alt Hacker NewsI don't think you understood the point of the story. It's not that LLMs or agents are conscious, it's that our dismissal of the possibility is reflexive and uninformed. Personally I think anyone who has made their mind up about whether or not LLMs/agents are or can be conscious has done so before the evidence is in.
The story does not assert that search and replacing "meat" with "weight" makes them conscious through some magical mechanism. It's a thought experiment.
No, it's a story. Stories can be about real things (the original story is about a real consciousness, as shown by it being produced by that consciousness), but they aren't automatically just because they're good stories.
You're falling into the trap of assuming that a good presentation--being convincing--is the same as being truthful.