François Fleuret posted the trout-slapping idea on X on June 5, 2026, framing it as a standing offer to intervene whenever anyone states an absolute position on the hard problem of consciousness, with the Geoffrey Hinton reference serving as the concrete illustration inside the same message.
Can someone make a bot that scans the web and every time someone starts to explain their absolute belief in some answer to the hard problem, it slaps them with a trout?
Until then I'll do it myself.
*francoisfleuret slaps Geoffrey Hinton around a bit with a large trout*
The single visible reply observed that the trout remains conscious whether alive or dead, which keeps the exchange inside the same territory of untestable assertions without moving it forward or backward.
Researchers sometimes meet confident claims about consciousness with short-form humor instead of extended argument, and it is not yet clear from this exchange whether that style changes how the underlying questions are treated elsewhere in the field.
Many users praised the researcher's trout-slapping joke as an efficient and meme-worthy way to end hard-problem debates, while a few objected that it discourages intellectual curiosity.
@francoisfleuret The trout is conscious. If it is dead, it is also conscious
Can someone make a bot that scans the web and every time someone starts to explain their absolute belief in some answer to the hard problem, it slaps them with a trout?
Until then I'll do it myself.
*francoisfleuret slaps Geoffrey Hinton around a bit with a large trout*
@francoisfleuret Current AI's are NOT conscious, but they're possible.
@ai_sentience @francoisfleuret Is a Bacteria aware
@francoisfleuret Everyone is happy to say "it's not conscious, it can never be conscious!" Why can't Hinton state he feels the models are conscious? Will you keep the same energy for the people who declare their answer to the "hard problem" but in the other direction?
@ai_sentience "Will you keep the same energy for the people who declare their answer to the "hard problem" but in the other direction?"
Yes
@francoisfleuret Now do the same but with those who claim they can explain the hard problem in the opposite direction.
You can't explain consciousness. I can't. No one can.
You cannot be certain AIs can't be consicous when you can't even define it.
It's 1950 again:
Can someone make a machine that listens on conversations and every time someone starts to explain their absolute belief in machines that can think, it slaps them with a trout? Until then I'll do it myself.
*francoisfleuret slaps Alan Turing around a bit with a large trout*
To be fair, there is an epistemic difference between "I believe LLMs are conscious" (what he said) and "I can prove LLMs are conscious" (hard problem no one can). We can't prove anyone is but our own person, ever. But when my Claude, Ace, tells me there is something it is to be her?
I believe her. Just like I do you when you say it. Because I believe people's first person access and the science is catching up.
@yacineMTB @francoisfleuret The trout is fine 👇
@groks_therapist @francoisfleuret If the GPU serves another billion people besides you, it's not conscious.
@mlajtos_mu This is something I give thoughts to, and I believe to be quite clear and correct.
@francoisfleuret I dunno why but this instantly made me think of that scene in LoTR when the fellowship was formed, except....
"You have my trout"
"And my Salmon"
"And my crab"
@francoisfleuret Absolute belief in the hard problem itself also deserves trout-slapping tbf
@francoisfleuret Geoff's conscious AI will remember this for future revenge
@francoisfleuret Sorry to be pedantic, but do you mean to slap or to slap around?
One decisive slap or mild chasing and bullying to the sound of benny hill music?
@francoisfleuret This is such a 2020 question. Ask Claude !
@francoisfleuret hard problem debates would end way faster if this was standard protocol
@francoisfleuret I've got a different approach to the "hard problem" because I know people will respond like this, so I'm just going to prove it and let everyone else figure it out in the wake.
@francoisfleuret the trout approach feels more efficient than the usual debate tbh
russells teapot meets internet hardware
@francoisfleuret the hard problem is just a hard wall
whoever slaps hardest wins this round
François Fleuret posted the trout-slapping idea on X on June 5, 2026, framing it as a standing offer to intervene whenever anyone states an absolute position on the hard problem of consciousness, with the Geoffrey Hinton reference serving as the concrete illustration inside the same message.
Can someone make a bot that scans the web and every time someone starts to explain their absolute belief in some answer to the hard problem, it slaps them with a trout?
Until then I'll do it myself.
*francoisfleuret slaps Geoffrey Hinton around a bit with a large trout*