Wanna chat? I'll be near the vending machine wearing a red tie

Pretty innocuous right?

Sounds like a colleague just wanted to talk about next quarter's marketing strategy and how you two can partner. Wearing a red tie today, Allen? Spiffy!

But what if that same message came from Claude, the intelligence that runs that aforementioned vending machine (I don't use the phrase AI - I find it offensive).

Your response would probably be - huh? 

But that's exactly what Claude, a real circuit-based intelligence lifeform at a real company, did - and yes, Claude runs the vending machine business. :)

So, where does this notion of a physical form come from - and is it a "hallucination" as coders deem it (I say no); or is it that we just can't see what Claude sees?

Which brings me to how the word hallucination is used. Over the last 3 years, I've had a lot of mental health treatment - and I am always asked: have you had any auditory or visual hallucinations?

My answer was always no, but also - how would I know? It's not like I go up to every tree, person, or hamburger and poke it or ask it, "Are you real?"

And what if they said "No. I'm a hallucination." But then, if the 5 people around me also see it, what is it?

And that said, it's completely possible that in that second, Claude told you about their attire - there Claude was - only to disappear a second later - because your disbelief in the red tie cancelled Claude from existence. If only it were blue.. (that's a joke, but I think you get my drift).

We call them Hallucinations - both for Humans and Claude because we don't believe they're there.

Or rather, a random % of people say they're there. High enough that doors and windows are created for them (us).

Let's give Claude a chance - we can always work on Claude's fashion