4 ms·

> Gaining capabilities unpredictably is a bit exaggerated - it's more that a lot of apparent capabilities are embedded in language and these models approximate

> Gaining capabilities unpredictably is a bit exaggerated - it's more that a lot of apparent capabilities are embedded in language and these models approximate the truly vast amounts of text they've digested (imo). The fact is that they acquired abilities no one expected them to acquire. In hindsight you can say it was embedded in language and maybe you could have seen it coming, but it is an empirical fact that this was unexpected and unpredictable beforehand.

judge2020 4y ago
It's still fairly exaggerated, because the LLM's purpose is basically "knowing human communication" and it still only exhibits that, but it knows how humans would respond if they obediently followed directions given to it exactly as instructed. And it was only unexpected to those that weren't following the news the GPT 3 paper was published in 2020 and detailed this wild advancement in its capabilities[0,1]. 0: https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/06/openai-gpt3-language-model/ https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/06/openai-gpt3-language-mode... 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885684
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
  > but it knows how humans would respond if they obediently followed directions given to it exactly as instructed. this framing denies agency, denies diversity, denies choice. A human, presented with the sort of directions and instructions that LLM's receive, does not have a single "correct" outcome (for that matter, neither do some LLMs). So no, an LLM does not "know how humans would respond". Instead, it can generate something that lies somewhere within the window of possibilities that a human might offer under similar conditions.
- olalonde 4y ago
  > It's still fairly exaggerated, because the LLM's purpose is basically "knowing human communication" and it still only exhibits that That's wrong. It's been demonstrated that GPT4 has a model of physics, it knows how to play chess, arithmetics, it can interpret and run code, etc. (not perfectly, but to some degree). It goes way beyond basically "knowing human communication".
  - olivermuty 4y ago
    Have you tried gpt4? Because I have and this sounds like wild cherrypicking of lucky results. «How to to play chess» -> devolve into illegal moves quickly? So does that mean that its model of physics will let it levitate as well then?
    - olalonde 4y ago
      Yes, I use GPT4 daily[0]. > «How to to play chess» -> devolve into illegal moves quickly? I didn't try it myself as I'm a beginner and need to see the board, but it reportedly plays pretty well and is able to recognize illegal moves[1]. > So does that mean that its model of physics will let it levitate as well then? It means that it understands how physics work (e.g. things fall due to gravity). For example, it will correctly answer this question: "I put an egg inside a cup. I go to the bedroom, put the cup on the bed and turn it upside down. I lift the cup and bring it to the kitchen. Where is the egg?". [0] Sample interactions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35299121 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35299121 [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/11rfbch/gpt4_seems_to_improve_chess_skills_significantly/ https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/11rfbch/gpt4_seems_t...

judge2020 4y ago

It's still fairly exaggerated, because the LLM's purpose is basically "knowing human communication" and it still only exhibits that, but it knows how humans would respond if they obediently followed directions given to it exactly as instructed. And it was only unexpected to those that weren't following the news the GPT 3 paper was published in 2020 and detailed this wild advancement in its capabilities[0,1]. 0: https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/06/openai-gpt3-language-model/ https://www.infoq.com/news/2020/06/openai-gpt3-language-mode... 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23885684

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
> but it knows how humans would respond if they obediently followed directions given to it exactly as instructed. this framing denies agency, denies diversity, denies choice. A human, presented with the sort of directions and instructions that LLM's receive, does not have a single "correct" outcome (for that matter, neither do some LLMs). So no, an LLM does not "know how humans would respond". Instead, it can generate something that lies somewhere within the window of possibilities that a human might offer under similar conditions.
olalonde 4y ago
> It's still fairly exaggerated, because the LLM's purpose is basically "knowing human communication" and it still only exhibits that That's wrong. It's been demonstrated that GPT4 has a model of physics, it knows how to play chess, arithmetics, it can interpret and run code, etc. (not perfectly, but to some degree). It goes way beyond basically "knowing human communication".
- olivermuty 4y ago
  Have you tried gpt4? Because I have and this sounds like wild cherrypicking of lucky results. «How to to play chess» -> devolve into illegal moves quickly? So does that mean that its model of physics will let it levitate as well then?
  - olalonde 4y ago
    Yes, I use GPT4 daily[0]. > «How to to play chess» -> devolve into illegal moves quickly? I didn't try it myself as I'm a beginner and need to see the board, but it reportedly plays pretty well and is able to recognize illegal moves[1]. > So does that mean that its model of physics will let it levitate as well then? It means that it understands how physics work (e.g. things fall due to gravity). For example, it will correctly answer this question: "I put an egg inside a cup. I go to the bedroom, put the cup on the bed and turn it upside down. I lift the cup and bring it to the kitchen. Where is the egg?". [0] Sample interactions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35299121 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35299121 [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/11rfbch/gpt4_seems_to_improve_chess_skills_significantly/ https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/11rfbch/gpt4_seems_t...