Cognitive Mechanisms of Large Language Models: Interaction with GigaChat

The article is devoted to the topical problem of analyzing cognitive mechanisms implemented in modern large language models (LLMs) based on the transformer architecture. Their high performance stimulates discussion of the hypothetical possibility of the emergence of the phenomena of consciousness in the process of their functioning. The purpose of the study is to clarify the potential of LLM in modeling the functions of human consciousness, taking into account the latest achievements in the field of interaction with artificial intelligence (AI). To achieve this goal, it was necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) to assess the progress of the scientific community in discussing the key paradoxes of the philosophy of consciousness (the Turing test, the Chinese Room); 2) to outline key positions in the current debate about the limits of modeling cognitive processes in artificial neural network systems; 3) to conduct an experiment on interaction with the GigaChat chatbot and analyze the data obtained to assess the current states of the cognitive abilities of the system. The main research materials used were the results of experiments with GigaChat, as well as scientific publications and philosophical works on AI and consciousness. The methodological basis of the study included categorical and value analysis; discourse analysis and SWOT analysis were also used. The key method was interaction with the GigaChat chatbot. As a result of the study, it was found that GigaChat demonstrates a high ability to interpret information, generate text and adapt to the context of a conversation, realizing its capabilities and limitations, as well as distinguishing between categories of subjects (‘you’, ‘we’, ‘I’). However, modern AI systems are still not capable of reproducing key features of human consciousness, such as developed self-awareness and subjective experience. The author concludes that the scientific community has made progress in discussing the key paradoxes of the philosophy of consciousness (the Turing test and the Chinese Room), taking into account new advances in the field of interaction with AI, but there are still unresolved questions about the criteria for consciousness; in the current debate about the limits of modeling cognitive processes in AI systems, various philosophical and methodological approaches are present, but the creation of a conscious AI continues to be the subject of intense debate and uncertainty. Experimental interaction with GigaChat has shown that the system has significant cognitive capabilities, such as adapting to context and recognizing categories of subjects, but it is still far from reproducing the full range of human consciousness, including developed self-awareness and subjective experience.

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