For a bit there I was actually convinced Ted Chiang had written a coherent argument. But then, like all his stories, in the middle it collapses in a fit of illogic.
An actual-AGI AI wouldn't need to have a body to have desires & emotions; even if the computer it's in isn't good enough. We can put LLMs in robot frames, but that won't make them experience anything. Converse, slime molds have a body but no emotions, only trophic behaviors, but they're good enough to live in the world.
