21–30 of 48 posts
If you haven't read Greg Egan's Permutation City , the fact that you clicked on this discussion means you'll get get a lot out of it.
Yes! I was also reminded of the truth mines in Diaspora.
1. we should do it less, because it distorts our ability to think about them properly. Calling these processes 'thinking', 'holidays', etc invites the reader to bring along ideas and expectations that aren't justified by what's happening in the system.
2. it's good to keep doing it, because repeated use reduces the specialness or magic that people seem to reserve for our own behavior ("It's not really intelligent/thinking/reasoning/creative") without any justification for that position beyond feelings.
I'm leaning towards the second.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes! I was also reminded of the truth mines in Diaspora.
This work feels more like The Truth Mines in Diaspora. Permutation city seems relevant only if you think LLMs are hosts to minds.
I have two thoughts simultaneously about the anthropomorphisation of these systems: 1. we should do it less, because it distorts our ability to think about them properly. Calling these processes 'thinking', 'holidays', etc invites the reader to bring along ideas and expectations that aren't justified by what's happening in the system. 2. it's good to keep doing it, because repeated use reduces the specialness or magi…
If you haven't read Greg Egan's Permutation City , the fact that you clicked on this discussion means you'll get get a lot out of it.
I have two thoughts simultaneously about the anthropomorphisation of these systems: 1. we should do it less, because it distorts our ability to think about them properly. Calling these processes 'thinking', 'holidays', etc invites the reader to bring along ideas and expectations that aren't justified by what's happening in the system. 2. it's good to keep doing it, because repeated use reduces the specialness or magi…