Let's assume AGI is achieved in our lifetime. If an AGI makes a groundbreaking contribution, does it deserve the same recognition as a human? Could an AGI ever be awarded a Nobel Prize?
Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
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Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#2Presumably someone made/sponsored it and would take responsibility. This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#3The bar is pretty low for the peace prize. Potentially thinking about doing something not bad is good enough so sure why not.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#4Yes, at least in magnitude of what it would contribute. Whether humans are willing to give out the award is a different question.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#5The bar is pretty low for the peace prize. Potentially thinking about doing something not bad is good enough so sure why not.
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Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#6Presumably someone made/sponsored it and would take responsibility. This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal.
Because AI grifters think training a language prediction model is the same thing as creating Data from Star Trek.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#7Presumably someone made/sponsored it and would take responsibility. This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal.
>This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal.
It's the end goal for capitalism. Consider Jeffrey Katzenberg's recently stated expectation that AI should make it possible to eliminate 90% of artist jobs in animated films - of course he doesn't expect to make 90% less profits in the bargain. Every industry looking at AI is doing so primarily to be able to eliminate jobs, which entails having AI doing as much as possible without human intervention.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#8Nobel laureates are restricted to “persons”. So an AGI would have to be granted personhood first.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#9Presumably someone made/sponsored it and would take responsibility. This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal.
>This idea that AI "does things" in a vacuum does not make sense to me and I don't understand why people assume it's the end goal. It's the end goal for capitalism. Consider Jeffrey Katzenberg's recently stated expectation that AI should make it possible to eliminate 90% of artist jobs in animated films - of course he doesn't expect to make 90% less profits in the bargain. Every industry looking at AI is doing so pri…
You have not just described a vacuum, though. AI is not going to make animated films apropos of nothing - that idea is fundamentally flawed. Someone has to set it up, someone has to pay for it's electricity, and eventually a human has to review it. If such an AI were writing Nobel Prize theses, my instinct says that the person who curated/selected that theses is the actual party that "discovered" it.
Re: Ask HN: Could an AGI ever win a Nobel Prize?
#10Yes, at least in magnitude of what it would contribute. Whether humans are willing to give out the award is a different question.
It seems that many of the responses here are thinking short term. I've seen computing go from machines with 1K of RAM that stored programs on audio cassettes, to cheap computers with gigabytes of ram and terabyte SSDs.
We're just starting to see how far AI can go. As a parent, I've watched my child boot up from a helpless needy bundle of potential, into a late teen. I fully believe AGI is possible with today's technology, if you gave it a body to live in, instead of a simulated world, and put it through the same process.
I fully believe we can build AGI. I believe the Nobel prize will change their criteria over time, but the selection process has always been political, and it may go either way for a generation or so.