• Barabas [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        12 days ago

        They don’t understand though. A lot of AI evangelists seem to smooth over that detail, it is a LLM not anything that “understands” language, video nor images.

        There are uses for these kinds of models like semi-automating analysing large pools of data, but even in a socialist society the resources that allocated to do it like it is currently is completely unsustainable.

        • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
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          12 days ago

          They don’t understand though. A lot of AI evangelists seem to smooth over that detail, it is a LLM not anything that “understands” language, video nor images.

          We’re into the Chinese Room problem. “Understand” is not a well-defined or measurable thing. I don’t see how it could be measured except from looking at inputs&outputs.

          • Barabas [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            12 days ago

            Does this mean that my TI-84 calculator was actually an AI since it could solve equations I put into it? Or Wolfram Alpha? Or a speed camera? These are all able to read external inputs to produce an output. At which point does your line go, because the current technology is nowhere near where mine goes.

            We are currently ruining the biosphere so that some people might earn a lot of money by being able to lay off workers. If you remove this integral part to what “AI” is and all other negative externalities of course it will look better, but not all of the externalities are tied to the capitalist mode of production. Economies and resource allocation would still be a thing without capitalism, it isn’t like everything magically becomes good.

            • Infamousblt [any]@hexbear.net
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              12 days ago

              A choose your own adventure novel is an AI because you feed it a set of inputs (page numbers) and it feeds you a set of outputs (a dynamic story).

          • space_comrade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            12 days ago

            “Understand” is not a well-defined or measurable thing.

            So why attribute it to an LLM in the first place then? All of the LLMs are just floating point numbers being multiplied and added inside a digital computer, the onus is on the AI bros to show what kind of floating point multiplication is real “understanding”.

            • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
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              12 days ago

              But it’s inherently impossible to “show” anything except inputs&outputs (including for a biological system).

              What are you using the word “real” to mean, and is it aloof from the measurable behaviour of the system?

              You seem to be using a mental model that there’s

              • A: the measurable inputs & outputs of the system

              • B: the “real understanding”, which is separate

              How can you prove B exists if it’s not measurable? You say there is an “onus” to do so. I don’t agree that such an onus exists.

              This is exactly the Chinese Room paper. ‘Understand’ is usually understood in a functionalist way.

              • But, ironically, the Chinese Room Argument you’re bringing up supports what others are saying that LLMs do not ‘understand’ anything.

                It seems to me like you are establishing ‘understanding’ with a functionalist meaning to be able to say that input/output is equivalent to understanding in order to say the measurable process in itself shows ‘understanding’. But that’s not what Searle, and seemingly the others here, seem to mean by ‘understanding’. As Searle argues, it is not purely the syntactic manipulation in question but the semantic. In other words, these LLMs do not “know” the information they provide, they are just repeating based off the input/output process with which they were programmed. LLMs do not project or internalize any meaning to the input/output process. If they had some reflexive consciousness and any ‘understanding’, then they could have critically approach the meaning of the information in order to assess its validity against facts rather than just naïvely proclaiming that cockroaches got their name because they like to crawl into penises at night. Do you believe LLMs are conscious?

              • space_comrade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                12 days ago

                How can you prove B exists if it’s not measurable?

                Because I’ve felt it, I’ve felt how understanding feels, because ultimately understanding is a conscious experience within a mind, you cannot define understanding without referencing conscious experience, you cannot possibly define it only in terms of behavior or function. So either you have to concede that every floating point multiplication in a digital chip “feels like something” at some level or you show what specific kind of floating point multiplication does.

          • booty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            12 days ago

            I don’t see how it could be measured except from looking at inputs&outputs.

            Okay, then consider that when you input something into an LLM and regenerate the responses a few times, it can come up with outputs of completely opposite (and equally incorrect) meaning, proving that it does not have any functional understanding of anything and instead simply outputs random noise that sometimes looks similar to what one would output if they did understand the content in question.

            • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
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              12 days ago

              Right. Like if I were talking to someone in total delirium and their responses were random and not a good fit for the question.

              LLMs are not like that.

                • frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml
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                  12 days ago

                  when you input something into an LLM and regenerate the responses a few times, it can come up with outputs of completely opposite (and equally incorrect) meaning

                  Can you paste an example of this error?

      • brvslvrnst@lemmy.ml
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        12 days ago

        I’m against the current iteration of the buzzword that involves a bunch of wasted money being dumped into something that also generates a ton of energy use to get things somewhat correct rather than having it go towards actual needs we have affecting humanity.

      • Infamousblt [any]@hexbear.net
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        12 days ago

        I am against the marketing buzz that is pretending (lying) that computers can understand language, video, and images, yes.

        I am not against actual AI but it does not exist yet

  • stormesp
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    12 days ago

    No, i’m pretty sure im also against AI. Im against artist not being paid for their work and being replaced by subpar machine learning regurgitating their art without any sense

    • slacktoid@lemmy.ml
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      12 days ago

      You’re literally talking about capitalism fucking over the artist here. There no reason the AI can’t be helping you do the boring shit in your work faster and why it shouldn’t only benifit you directly.

      • wild_dog [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        12 days ago

        It can also be used to improve your skills as an artist. For example, there’s a music theory plugin called Scaler 2 which uses AI. You can run recordings through Scaler and it will spit out the chords and key the songs are in. I’ve been using it to learn music theory. I’m not sure if any of y’all have tried learning music theory in a formal setting but a lot of teachers are incredibly pretentious, especially if you tell them you’re a guitarist or want to make electronic dance music. You could technically use it to write entire songs but those would be boring and lifeless.

        • slacktoid@lemmy.ml
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          12 days ago

          yeah its useful to do dumb boring work. not offload the entire creative process to it. Its like saying photoshop ruined photography. Rather I would argue it created an entire sub-genre of photos.

          We shouldnt lose the tool because of other tools trying to yuck our yum.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      12 days ago

      that use for llms was cooked up by capitalism

      it could very well be just another tool to assist artists

      • space_comrade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        12 days ago

        Also what’s inherently wrong with art being generated by a computer? Not every piece of art made by a human is this unique, incredibly creative never before seen thing nor it needs to be as such, in fact most human made art is just rehashing of previous things.

    • prototype_g2@lemmy.ml
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      11 days ago

      Capitalism is the economic model where the wealth created by the workers is owned by the people o whom the tools and resources required to created said wealth and not the workers who put in the work to create it.

      Here is a comic that might help you understand:

      What did you tell that man just now?|I told him to work faster!| How much do you pay him?| $25,00 a day...| Where do you get the money to pay him?| I sell products| Who makes the products?| He does...| How many products does he make in one day?| $100,00 worth.| The instead of you paying him... he is paying you $75,00 a day to tell him to work faster!| HUH?| But the machine belong to me!| How did you get the machines?| I sold products and bought them| ...And who made those products?| Shut up... He might hear you!|

  • kibiz0r@midwest.social
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    12 days ago

    I agreed with the content of the essay.

    Idk who chose the headline, cuz the author’s take is far more measured than that. (Probably an editor optimizing for clickbait?)

    I would caution, though, that the author is specifically talking about:

    1. the creation of art
    2. the way AI is developed and deployed in our capitalist context

    I think there are more valid concerns about AI beyond the scope of those two areas, but I can’t blame the author for focusing on their area of expertise.