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>this LLM behavior can be analogized in terms of some human behavior, thus it follows that LLMs are human-like No, the argument is "this behavior is similar en

>this LLM behavior can be analogized in terms of some human behavior, thus it follows that LLMs are human-like No, the argument is "this behavior is similar enough to human behavior that using it as evidence against <claim regarding LLM capability that humans have> is specious" >"Confabulation" in LLMs and "confabulation" in humans have basically nothing in common I don't know why you think this. They seem to have a lot in common. I call it sensible nonsense. Humans are prone to this when self-reflective neural circuits break down. LLMs are characterized by a lack of self-reflective information. When critical input is missing, the algorithm will craft a narrative around the available, but insufficient information resulting in sensible nonsense (e.g. neural disorders such as somatoparaphrenia)

root_axis 6mo ago
> No, the argument is "this behavior is similar enough to human behavior that using it as evidence against <claim regarding LLM capability that humans have> is specious" I'm not really following. LLM capabilities are self-evident, comparing them to a human doesn't add any useful information in that context. > LLMs are characterized by a lack of self-reflective information. When critical input is missing, the algorithm will craft a narrative around the available, but insufficient information resulting in sensible nonsense (e.g. neural disorders such as somatoparaphrenia) You're just drawing lines between superficial descriptions from disparate concepts that have a metaphorical overlap. It's also wrong. LLMs do not "craft a narrative around available information when critical input is missing", LLM confabulations are statistical, not a consequence of missing information or damage.
- hackinthebochs 6mo ago
  >LLM capabilities are self-evident This is undermined by all the disagreement about what LLMs can do and/or how to characterize it. >LLM confabulations are statistical, not a consequence of missing information or damage. LLMs aren't statistical in any substantive sense. LLMs are a general purpose computing paradigm. They are circuit builders, the converged parameters define pathways through the architecture that pick out specific programs. Or as Karpathy puts it, LLMs are a differentiable computer[1]. So yes, narrative crafting in terms of leveraging available putative facts into a narrative is an apt characterization of what LLMs do. [1] https://x.com/karpathy/status/1582807367988654081 https://x.com/karpathy/status/1582807367988654081

root_axis 6mo ago

> No, the argument is "this behavior is similar enough to human behavior that using it as evidence against <claim regarding LLM capability that humans have> is specious" I'm not really following. LLM capabilities are self-evident, comparing them to a human doesn't add any useful information in that context. > LLMs are characterized by a lack of self-reflective information. When critical input is missing, the algorithm will craft a narrative around the available, but insufficient information resulting in sensible nonsense (e.g. neural disorders such as somatoparaphrenia) You're just drawing lines between superficial descriptions from disparate concepts that have a metaphorical overlap. It's also wrong. LLMs do not "craft a narrative around available information when critical input is missing", LLM confabulations are statistical, not a consequence of missing information or damage.

hackinthebochs 6mo ago
>LLM capabilities are self-evident This is undermined by all the disagreement about what LLMs can do and/or how to characterize it. >LLM confabulations are statistical, not a consequence of missing information or damage. LLMs aren't statistical in any substantive sense. LLMs are a general purpose computing paradigm. They are circuit builders, the converged parameters define pathways through the architecture that pick out specific programs. Or as Karpathy puts it, LLMs are a differentiable computer[1]. So yes, narrative crafting in terms of leveraging available putative facts into a narrative is an apt characterization of what LLMs do. [1] https://x.com/karpathy/status/1582807367988654081 https://x.com/karpathy/status/1582807367988654081