I'm prone to agree. Your memory would still require being parsed by the language model, and for it to have a sufficient window as to allow this. Alternately, the human mind keeps, what, 7 items 'present' at a time? When the 32k variant comes out, the ability to use a side-along memory module on a running self-summarizing conversation will be even easier than it is now. I expect a more human-like memory will emerge eventually, once we can figure out a good way to project and retrieve via arbitrary weight values into it.
I'd like the "stochastic parrot" crew to explain how interactions like this somehow don't involve the extraction of and manipulation of abstract meaning.
H: translate the following sentence to instead use olympic curling related metaphors ( do not explicitly mention curling, and do not use similes in forming the translation ): man:"I've been spinning my tires all day without getting anywhere" woman:"running out of gas?" man:"nah, I'm gassed up, geared up, oiled and revving. I just can't seem to get in the right lane, you know?" woman:"anything knocking?" man:"nah, I'm tuned just fine. I can't seem to get my GPS to connect, you know?" woman:"take a few laps without a destination, see if you can figure out the lay of the land" man:"you know, that might help. thanks barbara"
R: man: "I've been sweeping the ice all day without hitting the target."
. woman: "Losing momentum?"
. man: "Nah, I've got the energy, the technique, and the focus. I just can't seem to find the right path, you know?"
. woman: "Anything coming in your way?"
. man: "Nah, I'm on point with my aim. I just can't seem to get my strategy to align, you know?"
. woman: "Maybe glide a few times without aiming specifically, see if you can figure out the ice conditions."
. man: "You know, that might help. Thanks, Barbara."
It seems obvious to me that it is understanding the metaphors into underlying meanings to be able to translate them like this. I think half the pushback is just ego driven nonsense, similar to the sorts of people that make similar claims on the capabilities of animals.
It's all just an argument that "boats can't swim".