Re:Eliezer Yudkowsky on large language model economics
by YeGoblynQueenne on Thursday March 16, 2023 @06:45AM
(#35180269)
>> Do you think you have a soul or something? Otherwise how is your own
Intelligence something a computer can’t replicate?
Strictly speaking, it is for you to say why you think that a digital computer,
which is nothing like a human, can be intelligent like a human.
Btw, I see this quip about souls often on HN, in response to comments that AGI
is impossible and it is invariably introduced in the conversation by the
person arguing that AGI is possible. I have never, ever seen anyone argue that
"digital computers can't be intelligent because they don't have a soul". I
don't even know where that "soul" bit comes from, probably from something
someone said centuries ago? In any case it's irrelevant to most modern
conversations where most people don't believe in the supernatural, and have
other reasons to think that AGI may be impossible.
And why wouldn't they? For the time being, we don't have anything anyone is prepared to call "AGI".
We also don't have a crystal ball to see into the future and know whether it
is possible, or not. For all we know, it might be a theoretical possibility,
but a practical impossibility, like stable wormholes, or time travel, or the
Alcubierre Drive. We will know when we know, not before.
Until then, invoking "souls", or any other canned reply, only seems to serve
to shut down curious conversation and should be avoided.
To say it in very plain English: you don't know if AGI is possible, you only
assume it to be, so let's hear the other person say what they assume, too. Their opinion is just as interesting as
yours, and just as an opinion.
Strictly speaking, it is for you to say why you think that a digital computer, which is nothing like a human, can be intelligent like a human.
Btw, I see this quip about souls often on HN, in response to comments that AGI is impossible and it is invariably introduced in the conversation by the person arguing that AGI is possible. I have never, ever seen anyone argue that "digital computers can't be intelligent because they don't have a soul". I don't even know where that "soul" bit comes from, probably from something someone said centuries ago? In any case it's irrelevant to most modern conversations where most people don't believe in the supernatural, and have other reasons to think that AGI may be impossible.
And why wouldn't they? For the time being, we don't have anything anyone is prepared to call "AGI". We also don't have a crystal ball to see into the future and know whether it is possible, or not. For all we know, it might be a theoretical possibility, but a practical impossibility, like stable wormholes, or time travel, or the Alcubierre Drive. We will know when we know, not before.
Until then, invoking "souls", or any other canned reply, only seems to serve to shut down curious conversation and should be avoided.
To say it in very plain English: you don't know if AGI is possible, you only assume it to be, so let's hear the other person say what they assume, too. Their opinion is just as interesting as yours, and just as an opinion.