4 ms·

Isn't breaking things down into steps always going to be a part of solving any problem? I think of how I was told to approach problems while developing software

by JieJie 4y ago

Isn't breaking things down into steps always going to be a part of solving any problem? I think of how I was told to approach problems while developing software in this manner. Maybe the LLM gets so smart that it doesn't need to do this, but that I would definitely want to call a super-intelligence, because I sure can't solve big problems without breaking them down into smaller parts. But maybe you are on to something when you say there are some things that we've just done so much that we don't really have to think them through to accomplish them anymore. I don't know what that would say about an AI that was smart enough it could just spit out the right answer to literally any question we could devise. That would be quite a feat of engineering.

vineyardmike 4y ago
> But maybe you are on to something when you say there are some things that we've just done so much that we don't really have to think them through to accomplish them anymore. It’s like multiplication tables for thought. Using the “what to wear” example, you’ve essentially already just memorized what to wear for every occasion so you rarely need to think about it. Eg you know what is work appropriate, and if it’s raining or snowing or hot you’re still fine. But a wedding for a foreign culture you’re not familiar with in a city with weather you’re not familiar with, and you might not immediately know what to wear, so you have to break it down.
- JieJie 4y ago
  I've taken to calling these things "language golems" because they seem to be able to animate language itself and unlock all these hidden qualities that we seem to know are there, take for granted, and never seemed to ask ourselves how they worked on a fundamental level. Even if they are "stochastic parrots" that are no more effective at elucidating truth than Ouija boards, they are still better than the autocorrect on my phone right now.

by JieJie 4y ago

vineyardmike 4y ago

> But maybe you are on to something when you say there are some things that we've just done so much that we don't really have to think them through to accomplish them anymore. It’s like multiplication tables for thought. Using the “what to wear” example, you’ve essentially already just memorized what to wear for every occasion so you rarely need to think about it. Eg you know what is work appropriate, and if it’s raining or snowing or hot you’re still fine. But a wedding for a foreign culture you’re not familiar with in a city with weather you’re not familiar with, and you might not immediately know what to wear, so you have to break it down.

JieJie 4y ago
I've taken to calling these things "language golems" because they seem to be able to animate language itself and unlock all these hidden qualities that we seem to know are there, take for granted, and never seemed to ask ourselves how they worked on a fundamental level. Even if they are "stochastic parrots" that are no more effective at elucidating truth than Ouija boards, they are still better than the autocorrect on my phone right now.