Comment by measurablefunc

Comment by measurablefunc 3 days ago

What's alien about arithmetic? People invented it. Same w/ computers. These are all human inventions. There is nothing alien about them. Suggesting that people think of human inventions as if they were alien artifacts does not empower or enable anyone to get a better handle on how to properly utilize these software artifacts. The guruism in AI is not helpful & Karpathy is not helping here by adopting imprecise language & spreading it to his followers on social media.

If you don't understand how AI works then you should learn how to put together a simple neural network. There are plenty of tutorials & books that anyone can learn from by investing no more than an hour or two every day or every other day.

defrost 3 days ago

How does this relate to the article?

Addressing the substance of your comment (as per your profile):

* Humans did not invent arithmetic, they discovered it - one billion years past, prior to human existance, 1 + 2 still resulted in 3 however notated.

Reply View 4 replies

BanditDefender 3 days ago

It is better to say humans formalized it :) All birds and mammals are capable of arithmetic in the sense of quantitative reasoning. E.g. a rat quickly learning that if they're shown two plates, one with two rocks and one with three rocks, if they pick the plate with five rocks they get a treat. That is to say rats understand addition intuitively, even if they can't write large numbers like humans can.
Too many AI people are completely uninterested in how rats are able to figure stuff like that out. It is not like they are being prompted, they are being manipulated.

Reply View | 0 replies
measurablefunc 3 days ago

That has nothing to do w/ what I wrote. If people stop making computers then the "alien" minds Karpathy & friends keep harping about simply disappear & people end up doing arithmetic manually by hand (which presumably no longer makes it "alien"). AI discourse is incoherent b/c people like Karpathy have a confused ontology & metaphysics & others take whatever they say as gospel.

Reply View | 2 replies
- defrost 3 days ago
  
  You've fleshed out your comment considerably since my comment, which directly addressed the little that had been written at that time.
  
  Reply View | 1 reply
  
  measurablefunc 3 days ago
  
  I didn't notice your comment when I was editing but I don't see how your comment addresses the unedited version either. If you believe in platonic ideals then that still does not make mathematics & arithmetic any more alien than assuming inventive contingency.
  
  Reply View | 0 replies