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> In this piece Chomsky, the intellectual godfather of an effort that failed for 60 years to build machines that can converse in ordinary language, condemns the
by oldgradstudent 4y ago
> In this piece Chomsky, the intellectual godfather of an effort that failed for 60 years to build machines that can converse in ordinary language, condemns the effort that succeeded.
Well, Aaronson may not be the godfather, but he's definitely an influential figure in effort that failed for 45 years to develop magic machines.
- sebzim4500 4y agoSure but if a competing team built a quantum computer that could factorise huge numbers Aaronson would presumably not write a piece in the NYT about how it didn't actually count because <insert vague objection here>.
- oldgradstudent 4y agoWell, for years, he headed a small cottage industry dedicated to claiming D-Wave was not a real quantum computer. He was right it that case, similar to how Chomsky s right in this case.
- sebzim4500 4y agoThere is a very important distinction between the two cases. D-Wave have never been able to demonstrate a way in which their technology is actually useful whereas (for better or worse) people are actually using ChatGPT for their jobs/lives and claim it is valuable to them.
- oldgradstudent 4y ago> people are actually using ChatGPT for their jobs/lives and claim it is valuable to them. This is true for spreadsheets, word processors, and hydraulic presses. It does not make them AGIs, or has any bearing to Chomsky's argument (especially since he acknowledged that explicitly).