---
title: "Habr Publication: 'Don't Animate the Inanimate'"
description: "Reflections on the boundary between tool and subject in the context of LLMs. Purpose as the key criterion of consciousness. Active discussion and architectural hypotheses in the comments."
date: 2025-07-01
display_date: "July 1, 2025"
image: "/img/brand/habr.webp"
image_alt: "Publication on Habr: 'Don't Personify the Inanimate'"
---

# Habr Publication: "Don't Animate the Inanimate"

<zoom-img
            src="https://habrastorage.org/r/w1560/getpro/habr/upload_files/051/e81/db2/051e81db20cc376a5b9c7d4d12d3aa5c.png"
            alt="Illustration for the article «Don't Animate the Inanimate»"
            width="100px"
            style="float: left; margin: 15px 15px 0 0;"
    ></zoom-img>

The [Habr](https://habr.com/) platform has published an article
        ["Don't Animate the Inanimate"](https://habr.com/ru/articles/923838/).

I attempted to understand what exactly makes an LLM a tool or a subject and where the boundary lies between the model and
        the operator. The focus is on goal-setting, the nature of consciousness, and the limitations of the scientific method as
        the basis for reproducible knowledge.

In the article, I consistently distinguish between a tool and a subject, arguing that without the ability to independently
        form goals, a language model remains precisely a tool. As long as LLMs don't generate their own goals, responsibility
        lies with the operator.

Commentators offered interesting perspectives—from hypotheses about spontaneous subjectivity to descriptions of architectures
        with meta-reflection and feedback. The "VORTEX 37.1 Protocol" was also discussed as a possible path to integrating coherent
        thinking into LLMs.

For me, the main point remains: **if the goal is set externally—it's a tool**. And only if it arises internally
        can we speak of the emergence of subjectivity. Until that happens—the model remains a tool, even if it behaves like an
        intelligent interlocutor.