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Saying “AI is not magic” is somewhat of a meaningless statement. If you define magic as something that doesn’t exist, then the statement is definitely meaningle

Saying “AI is not magic” is somewhat of a meaningless statement. If you define magic as something that doesn’t exist, then the statement is definitely meaningless (since AI definitely exists). If you allow for the existence of magic (eg, as the physical manifestation of mental intention), then it’s hard to argue why AI wouldn’t count.

simonw 2y ago
The idea that AI isn't magic works if you define "magic" as meaning "unlimited in ability and no-one understands how it works". I wrote a bit about this a while back: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Oct/5/spell-casting/#harmful-metaphor https://simonwillison.net/2022/Oct/5/spell-casting/#harmful-...
- dr_dshiv 2y ago
  In 2022, you argue that a stochastic parrot is a better metaphor. I don’t know that this helps. Do you still believe that? Practically, thinking of LLM as having (limited) intelligence is useful in so far as it helps users to treat LLMs like people: sometimes they understand and sometimes they don’t. My interest in the magic metaphor stems from my interest in the historical use of magic in Neoplatonism, renaissance magic and specifically “natural magic.” This is a deep rabbit hole, but fascinating. (I spend a lot of time at the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, which has one of the world’s largest collections of books about magic) I advocate treating AI as magic as a practical mindset for designers because it gives us humility about our rational comprehension of hidden forces. The fact is, users of AI don’t deeply understand the mechanisms behind the functioning of LLMs. Thinking that we rationally understand LLMs by saying “they are just predicting the next token” doesn’t actually lead to good usage, IMO. It leads to a kind of smugness about the limited capabilities of the models. Instead, I find it more helpful, as a designer, to use more of my intuitive “right brain” to play with models. It’s why I encourage designers not to think (only) in terms of prompt engineering but rather prompt vibing. Blending the rational and the intuitive leads to the best results in almost any design practice. I know this isn’t a common opinion, but you might find it interesting to consider.
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simonw 2y ago

The idea that AI isn't magic works if you define "magic" as meaning "unlimited in ability and no-one understands how it works". I wrote a bit about this a while back: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Oct/5/spell-casting/#harmful-metaphor https://simonwillison.net/2022/Oct/5/spell-casting/#harmful-...

dr_dshiv 2y ago
In 2022, you argue that a stochastic parrot is a better metaphor. I don’t know that this helps. Do you still believe that? Practically, thinking of LLM as having (limited) intelligence is useful in so far as it helps users to treat LLMs like people: sometimes they understand and sometimes they don’t. My interest in the magic metaphor stems from my interest in the historical use of magic in Neoplatonism, renaissance magic and specifically “natural magic.” This is a deep rabbit hole, but fascinating. (I spend a lot of time at the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, which has one of the world’s largest collections of books about magic) I advocate treating AI as magic as a practical mindset for designers because it gives us humility about our rational comprehension of hidden forces. The fact is, users of AI don’t deeply understand the mechanisms behind the functioning of LLMs. Thinking that we rationally understand LLMs by saying “they are just predicting the next token” doesn’t actually lead to good usage, IMO. It leads to a kind of smugness about the limited capabilities of the models. Instead, I find it more helpful, as a designer, to use more of my intuitive “right brain” to play with models. It’s why I encourage designers not to think (only) in terms of prompt engineering but rather prompt vibing. Blending the rational and the intuitive leads to the best results in almost any design practice. I know this isn’t a common opinion, but you might find it interesting to consider.

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