4 ms·

Before anyone jumps to esoteric conclusions: This is more likely a result of neural networks being very general: General in the sense that they are able to app

• petsfed 3y ago
  Just a sidebar here, I think the urge to jump to esoteric conclusions is very strong because we are (rightly) trained to not expect that nature at large uses the same tools that we have developed. So its very validating (and also kind of unnerving) when we do find the suggestion that we're "right" at a more fundamental level. Consider that the uncertainty relations in physics fall neatly out of Fourier Analysis, which could suggest that the universe also does Fourier Analysis to figure out where things are and how fast they're going. But really, its that classical interaction is a sort of mechanical Fourier transform. I think that moment where it feels like we brush against the real clockwork of the universe has an eldritch, cosmic-horror quality to it, which is both addictive and maddening.
• namaria 3y ago
  Sure, nothing profound about trillion-strong fleets of self replicating nanobots controlled by chemical computers processing high dimension data about their environments with complex entanglements giving rise to specialized clusters of information processing neural masses, capable of then communicating with other similar entities, building knowledge about data processing and storage over millennia, starting with clay tablets and ending up with advanced machinery that can be used to create elaborate patterns of data flows that can help us peer through the universe, inside our bodies, understand in intricate detail everything that happens across billions of light years and over billions of years. Nothing profound at all about any of that. Just very general structures.
• fasterik 3y ago
  It's still an interesting fact that evolution seems to have figured out that neural networks are good at approximating arbitrary continuous functions. We could ask whether intelligent alien species are likely to use neural nets. In other words, are neural nets universal in some sense, or are they contingent to how life evolved on Earth?
  • gumballindie 3y ago
    Yes it was nature that figured out ai neural nets are efficient not humans implementing algorithms that found out that nature makes efficient use of neural nets. Aliens will first have to make contant and dully learn how to use neural nets to develop intelligence. A catch 22.
    • fasterik 3y ago
      What I mean by aliens using neural nets is that we don't know what percent of evolved intelligent species would have neural nets as an integral part of their cognition like we do. And we don't know what alternative paths there are to the evolution of intelligence.
      • gumballindie 3y ago
        I think the way life is built on earth is the rule throughout the universe. For any type of organic “computation” there needs to be something similar to a neural net. Perhaps a different “implementation” but it should be largely the same.
        • deleted 3y ago
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        • mewpmewp2 3y ago
          Yeah, the amazing thing though is how such a simple concept can emerge into a very complex behaviour and intelligence. And the fact that we know that and now have proof in terms of intelligence of ChatGPT, is to me pretty clear that achieving AGI is possible if you crack the way to structure your neural network.
          • gumballindie 3y ago
            > now have proof in terms of intelligence of ChatGPT What.