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AI is a horse (2024)

kconner.com

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Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#161

Post by the_af »

kzrdude wrote: post #130
the_af wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the reply. I know pre-AI cheats have ruined some online games, so I'm not sure it's an encouraging thought... Are you saying AI can help detect AI cheats in games? In real time for some games? Maybe! That'd be useful.

Note that "AI" was not and has not been necessary for strong computer chess engines. Though clearly, they have contributed to peak strength and some NN methods are used by the most popular engine, stockfish.

Oh, I'm conflating the modern era use of the term with the classic definition of AI to include classic chess engines done with tree-pruning, backtracking, and heuristics :)

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#162

Post by aaronharnly »

simonw wrote: post #74
throw310822 wrote: post #56

Famously Steve Jobs said that the (personal) computer is "like a bicycle for the mind". It's a great metaphor because- besides the idea of lightness and freedom it communicates- it also described the computer as multiplier of the human strength- the bicycle allows one to travel faster and with much less effort, it's true, but ultimately the source of its power is still entirely in the muscles of the cyclist- you don'…

I've been calling LLMs "electric bicycles for the mind", inspired by that Jobs quote. - some bicycle purists consider electric bicycles to be "cheating" - you get less exercise from an electric bicycle - they can get you places really effectively! - if you don't know how to ride a bicycle an electric bicycle is going to quickly lead you to an accident

To keep torturing the metaphor, LLMs might be more like those electric unicycles (Onewheel, Inmotion, etc) – quite speedy, can get you places, less exercise, and also sometimes suddenly choke and send you flying facefirst into gravel.

And some people see you whizzing by and think "oh cool", and others see you whizzing by and think "what a tool."

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#164

Post by robrain »

matthewkayin wrote: post #77
simonw wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been calling LLMs "electric bicycles for the mind", inspired by that Jobs quote. - some bicycle purists consider electric bicycles to be "cheating" - you get less exercise from an electric bicycle - they can get you places really effectively! - if you don't know how to ride a bicycle an electric bicycle is going to quickly lead you to an accident

I like this analogy. I'll add that, while electric bicycles are great for your daily commute, they're not suited for the extremes of biking (at least not yet). - You're not going to take an electric bike mountain biking - You're not going to use an electric bike to do BMX - You're not going to use an electric bike to go bikepacking across the country

Whistlerite here. My Strava stats for last year suggest half and half eMTB and road riding. Tiny bit of fully self-powered MTB work.

As a 56-year old, eBikes are what make mountain biking possible and fun for me.

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#166

Post by whatwhaaaaat »

suriya-ganesh wrote: post #113
pmarreck wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony with the chess example is that chess has never been more popular. Perhaps we're about to experience yet another renaissance of computer languages.

Chess being popular is mostly because FIDE had a massive push in the last decade to make it more audience friendly. shorter time formats, more engaging commentary etc. While AI in chess is very cool in its own accord. It is not the driver for the adoption.

This seems like an over simplification. Do many newcomers to chess even know about time formats or watch professional matches? From my anecdotal experience that is a hard no.

Chess programs at primary schools have exploded in the last 10 years and at least in my circle millennial parents seem more likely to push their children to intellectual hobbies than previous generations (at least in my case to attempt to prevent my kids from becoming zombies walking around in pajamas like I see the current high schoolers).

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#167

Post by niam »

threethirtytwo wrote: post #155

Why does HN love analogies? You can pick any animal or thing and it can fit in some way. Horse is a docile safe analogy it’s also the most obvious analogy. Like yes the world gets it LLMs have limitations thanks for sharing, we know it’s not as good as a programmer. We should use analogies to point out the obvious thing everyone is avoiding: Guys 3 years ago, AI wasn’t even a horse. It was a rock. The key is that it…

> Why does HN love analogies?

I suppose because they resemble the abstractions that make complex language possible. Another world full of aggressive posturing at tweet-length analogistic musings might have stifled some useful English parlance early.

But I reckon that we shouldn't have called it phishing because emails don't always smell.

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#168

Post by interestpiqued »

t_mahmood wrote: post #127
faxmeyourcode wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure the same could be said about tractors when they were coming on the scene. There was probably initial excitement about not having to manually break the earth, then stories spread about farmers ruining entire crops with one tractor, some farms begin touting 10x more efficiency by running multiple tractors at once, some farmers saying the maintenance burden of a tractor is not worth it compared to feeding/water…

And, the end result being devastation of forests, ecosystems, animal life, fast track climate change etc.

Implying that efficient agriculture is destroying the planet is a wild take

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#169

Post by whattheheckheck »

aaronharnly wrote: post #162
simonw wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been calling LLMs "electric bicycles for the mind", inspired by that Jobs quote. - some bicycle purists consider electric bicycles to be "cheating" - you get less exercise from an electric bicycle - they can get you places really effectively! - if you don't know how to ride a bicycle an electric bicycle is going to quickly lead you to an accident

To keep torturing the metaphor, LLMs might be more like those electric unicycles (Onewheel, Inmotion, etc) – quite speedy, can get you places, less exercise, and also sometimes suddenly choke and send you flying facefirst into gravel. And some people see you whizzing by and think "oh cool", and others see you whizzing by and think "what a tool."

More like the Segway... really cool at first then not really then totally overpriced and failed to revolutionize the industry. And it killed the founder

Re: AI is a horse (2024)

#170

Post by GuB-42 »

threethirtytwo wrote: post #155

Why does HN love analogies? You can pick any animal or thing and it can fit in some way. Horse is a docile safe analogy it’s also the most obvious analogy. Like yes the world gets it LLMs have limitations thanks for sharing, we know it’s not as good as a programmer. We should use analogies to point out the obvious thing everyone is avoiding: Guys 3 years ago, AI wasn’t even a horse. It was a rock. The key is that it…

> Why does HN love analogies?

Because HN is like a child and analogies are like images

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