5 ms·

Can you tell us more about the specifics? What rabbit hole did you went into that was so obvious to everyone ("dude, no", "stop, go for a walk") but you that it

Can you tell us more about the specifics? What rabbit hole did you went into that was so obvious to everyone ("dude, no", "stop, go for a walk") but you that it was bullshit?

iwontberude 1y ago
Thinking you can create novel physics theories with the help of an LLM is probably all the evidence I needed. The premise is so asinine that to actually get to the point where you are convinced by it seems very strange indeed.
- gitremote 1y ago
  "I'm doing the equivalent of vibe coding, except it's vibe physics." - Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber https://gizmodo.com/billionaires-convince-themselves-ai-is-close-to-making-new-scientific-discoveries-2000629060 https://gizmodo.com/billionaires-convince-themselves-ai-is-c...
  - iwontberude 1y ago
    Couldn't happen to a nicer person, hopefully he's got some good health insurance.
- kaivi 1y ago
  > The premise is so asinine I believe it's actually the opposite! Anybody armed with this tool and little prior training could learn the difference between a Samsung S11 and the symmetry, take a new configuration from the endless search space that it is, correct for the dozen edge cases like the electron-phonon coupling, and publish. Maybe even pass peer review if they cite the approved sources. No requirement to work out the Lagrangians either, it is also 100% testable once we reach Kardashev-II. This says more about the sad state of modern theoretical physics than the symbolic gymnastics required to make another theory of everything sound coherent. I'm hoping that this new age of free knowledge chiropractors will change this field for the better.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- jeff-davis 1y ago
  My friend once told me that physics formulas are like compression algorithms: a short theory can explain many data points that fit a pattern. If that's true, then perhaps AIs would come up with something just by looking at existing observations and "summarizing" them. Far-fetched, but I try to keep an open mind.
  - iwontberude 1y ago
    After seeing half a dozen accounts of people losing their minds going down this rabbithole, it's more likely a good indicator of mental instability.
neom 1y ago
Sure, here are some excerpts that should provide insight as to where I was digging: https://s.h4x.club/E0uvqrpA https://s.h4x.club/E0uvqrpA https://s.h4x.club/8LuKJrAr https://s.h4x.club/8LuKJrAr https://s.h4x.club/o0u0DmdQ https://s.h4x.club/o0u0DmdQ (Edit: Thanks to the couple people who emailed me, don't worry I'm laying off the LLM sauce these days :))
- lubujackson 1y ago
  I have no idea what this is going on about. But it is clearly much more convincing with (unchecked) references all over the place. This seems uncannily similar to anti-COVID vaccination thinking. It isn't people being stupid because if you dig you can find heaps of papers and references and details and facts. So much so that the human mind can be easily convinced. Are those facts and details accurate? I doubt it, but the volume of slightly wrong source documents seems to add up to something convincing. Also similar to how finance people made tranches of bad loans and packaged them into better rated debt, magically. It seems to make sense at each step but it is ultimately an illusion.
- apsurd 1y ago
  had a look, I don't see it as bullshit, it's just not groundbreaking. Nature is overwhelmingly non-linear. Most of human scientific progress is based on linear understandings. Linear as in for this input you get this output. We've made astounding progress. Its just not a complete understanding of the natural world because most of reality can't actually be modeled linearly.
  - neom 1y ago
    I think it's not as much about how right or wrong or interesting or not the output was, for me anyway, the concern is that I got a bit... lost in myself, I have real things to do that are important to people around me, they do not involve spending hours with an LLM trying to understand the universe. I'm not a physicist, I have a family to provide for, and I suppose someone less lucky than myself could go down a terrible path.
    - 1y ago

Can you tell us more about the specifics? What rabbit hole did you went into that was so obvious to everyone ("dude, no", "stop, go for a walk") but you that it was bullshit?

iwontberude 1y ago

Thinking you can create novel physics theories with the help of an LLM is probably all the evidence I needed. The premise is so asinine that to actually get to the point where you are convinced by it seems very strange indeed.

gitremote 1y ago
"I'm doing the equivalent of vibe coding, except it's vibe physics." - Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber https://gizmodo.com/billionaires-convince-themselves-ai-is-close-to-making-new-scientific-discoveries-2000629060 https://gizmodo.com/billionaires-convince-themselves-ai-is-c...
- iwontberude 1y ago
  Couldn't happen to a nicer person, hopefully he's got some good health insurance.
kaivi 1y ago
> The premise is so asinine I believe it's actually the opposite! Anybody armed with this tool and little prior training could learn the difference between a Samsung S11 and the symmetry, take a new configuration from the endless search space that it is, correct for the dozen edge cases like the electron-phonon coupling, and publish. Maybe even pass peer review if they cite the approved sources. No requirement to work out the Lagrangians either, it is also 100% testable once we reach Kardashev-II. This says more about the sad state of modern theoretical physics than the symbolic gymnastics required to make another theory of everything sound coherent. I'm hoping that this new age of free knowledge chiropractors will change this field for the better.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
jeff-davis 1y ago
My friend once told me that physics formulas are like compression algorithms: a short theory can explain many data points that fit a pattern. If that's true, then perhaps AIs would come up with something just by looking at existing observations and "summarizing" them. Far-fetched, but I try to keep an open mind.
- iwontberude 1y ago
  After seeing half a dozen accounts of people losing their minds going down this rabbithole, it's more likely a good indicator of mental instability.

neom 1y ago

Sure, here are some excerpts that should provide insight as to where I was digging: https://s.h4x.club/E0uvqrpA https://s.h4x.club/E0uvqrpA https://s.h4x.club/8LuKJrAr https://s.h4x.club/8LuKJrAr https://s.h4x.club/o0u0DmdQ https://s.h4x.club/o0u0DmdQ (Edit: Thanks to the couple people who emailed me, don't worry I'm laying off the LLM sauce these days :))

lubujackson 1y ago
I have no idea what this is going on about. But it is clearly much more convincing with (unchecked) references all over the place. This seems uncannily similar to anti-COVID vaccination thinking. It isn't people being stupid because if you dig you can find heaps of papers and references and details and facts. So much so that the human mind can be easily convinced. Are those facts and details accurate? I doubt it, but the volume of slightly wrong source documents seems to add up to something convincing. Also similar to how finance people made tranches of bad loans and packaged them into better rated debt, magically. It seems to make sense at each step but it is ultimately an illusion.
apsurd 1y ago
had a look, I don't see it as bullshit, it's just not groundbreaking. Nature is overwhelmingly non-linear. Most of human scientific progress is based on linear understandings. Linear as in for this input you get this output. We've made astounding progress. Its just not a complete understanding of the natural world because most of reality can't actually be modeled linearly.
- neom 1y ago
  I think it's not as much about how right or wrong or interesting or not the output was, for me anyway, the concern is that I got a bit... lost in myself, I have real things to do that are important to people around me, they do not involve spending hours with an LLM trying to understand the universe. I'm not a physicist, I have a family to provide for, and I suppose someone less lucky than myself could go down a terrible path.
  - 1y ago