Good post by David Golumbia on ChatGPT and how miserable it all is :rat-salute-2:

  • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Mostly with you, but I think it's fair that there's a qualitative aspect to cognition and consciousness that our tech overlords don't seem to get - the difference between existentialism and nihilism is that the latter embraces the possibility that humans can create and enact meaning. Yeah, you can clearly get pretty far with statistical models, and maybe the universe is deterministic and our experience is just the product of particles following concrete and physical laws, but I think concluding that you're a stochastic parrot on the basis of the existence of Chat GPT is an overreach.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      In so far as in understand anything at all about quantum mechanics, my understanding of quantum mechanics is that it strongly suggests that the universe is not deterministic.

        • space_comrade [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          on a physical level the orthodoxy (fwiw) is that the brain is far too “warm, wet, and noisy” to harness quantum effects on a macroscopic scale

          Maybe, I don't think we can be 100% sure of that though, there are indications of this not being true: https://physicsworld.com/a/do-quantum-effects-play-a-role-in-consciousness/

            • space_comrade [he/him]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Just read the article, it's not that long. Basically it's not really clear cut and there are plenty of unknowns.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          on a physical level the orthodoxy (fwiw) is that the brain is far too “warm, wet, and noisy” to harness quantum effects on a macroscopic scale

          Really? I thought they were working on the idea that consciousness might rely on some spooky motion at a distance stuff?