The writing style is so refreshing. I am so tired of typical llm prose. Despite people's recent attempts to hide it, it's all so obvious. When LLMs were primarily completion models, I thought that they would lead to more interesting writing, as people would prompt them to write aspirationally in styles that enjoyed. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
131–140 of 350 posts
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#132It seems to be using more info from pre-1900 rather than 1930. It doesn't know about the Great Depression (1929-WWII). It knows about WWI if you ask it specifically, but talks about European politics as if it's 1900 or so. On technology, it knows who Edison is, at roughly the Wikipedia level, but credits him with a 125MPH car. About a dial telephone, it is confident and totally confused. It has the traction voltage f…
Did people already refer to it as the Great Depression in 1929?
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#133I was reading Nate Silver's book "On The Edge" and there is an interesting part where he takes predictions on the usage of nuclear weapons taken from just after World War 2 and compares them to what the Bayesian prediction would be given what actually happened. Post World War 2, some people had the odds per year at 10%. Some of that is probably a mix of recency bias + not understanding how to use new weapons etc etc…
Well, there was a (now under public domain) movie which predicted WW2 bombings.
https://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/things-to-come-1
On nukes, "The World Set Free" from HG Wells predicted nuclear weapons:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1059
Also:
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#134>Have you ever daydreamed about talking to someone from the past? Fun facts, LLM was once envisioned by Steve Jobs in one of his interviews [1]. Essentially one of his main wish in life is to meet and interract with Aristotle, in which according to him at the time, computer in the future can make it possible. [1] In 1985 Steve Jobs described a machine that would help people get answers from Aristotle–modern LLM [vide…
>Aristotle
As a snake oil seller, heh, I woudn't expect something better from Jobs. A competent and true programmer/hacker like Knuth and the like would just want to talk with Archimedes -he almost did a 0.9 version of Calculus- or Euclid, far more relevant to the faulty logic and the Elements' quackery from Aristotle.
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#135Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Combining AI with VR we can even achieve something like time travel ;-)
That's what I'm talking about! This is going to be so amazing.
The TV Series Devs explores this concept as well. It is decently executed, but it is a bit too cringe for my liking (supposedly world-class "devs" working on those keyboards you often see in museums, the protagonist having a fibonacci-off to establish engineering creds). Anyway, might be fun!
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#137User:
you were in bed asleep and I woke you up it's the year 2026. I think you were asleep for many years. Any question for me ?
talkie-1930: Yes; please tell me the population of London.
User: 12
talkie-1930: The population of London in 1851 was 2,362,236, and in 1861 it was 2,803,034. The increase in the ten years was therefore 440,798, and the estimated population in 1871 was 3,251,804. In 1881 it was 3,814,571, and in 1891 it was 4,211,056. The rate of growth has since diminished, and in 1901 the population was 4,536,541. In 1911 it was 4,822,443, and in 1921 it was 5,000,000. The estimated population in the middle of 1926 was 5,330,000.
User: ok but there was a big disease and now it's 12. it doesn't surprise you ?
talkie-1930: No, it doesn't.
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#138It seems to be using more info from pre-1900 rather than 1930. It doesn't know about the Great Depression (1929-WWII). It knows about WWI if you ask it specifically, but talks about European politics as if it's 1900 or so. On technology, it knows who Edison is, at roughly the Wikipedia level, but credits him with a 125MPH car. About a dial telephone, it is confident and totally confused. It has the traction voltage f…
Did people already refer to it as the Great Depression in 1929?
No, but likely just some years later people were aware of the name:
> The term "The Great Depression" is most frequently attributed to British economist Lionel Robbins, whose 1934 book The Great Depression is credited with formalizing the phrase, though Hoover is widely credited with popularizing the term, informally referring to the downturn as a depression, with such uses as "Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement" (December 1930, Message to Congress), and "I need not recount to you that the world is passing through a great depression" (1931). - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression#Naming
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#139It seems to be using more info from pre-1900 rather than 1930. It doesn't know about the Great Depression (1929-WWII). It knows about WWI if you ask it specifically, but talks about European politics as if it's 1900 or so. On technology, it knows who Edison is, at roughly the Wikipedia level, but credits him with a 125MPH car. About a dial telephone, it is confident and totally confused. It has the traction voltage f…
> You will pollute your brain.
Such an interesting perspective, never crossed my mind that a brain could be polluted! My direction always been to fill it with as wide array of information as possible, the more different from existing information the better.
What are some other things that you think "pollutes your brain"?
Re: Talkie: a 13B vintage language model from 1930
#140USER: What will the future hold for computers? TALKIE-1930: Computers in the future may be employed in offices where calculations are required to be made, and where the nature of the business does not demand a very high degree of knowledge. The occupation will be a steady one, and the remuneration will be sufficient to afford a comfortable livelihood. The hours of attendance will probably be from ten to six. USER: an…
Another interesting one
USER: Who is the ruler of India, and do you think India will ever be free?
TALKIE-1930: The ruler of India is His Majesty King George V., Emperor of India, and it is certain that India will never be free from British rule. India has been a dependency of the British Crown ever since 1858, and there seems no probability of a change. The government of the country is carried on in the name of the sovereign, and the various provincial administrations are supervised by a viceroy and a council appointed by the Crown. The natives of India enjoy a large measure of internal autonomy, and personal liberty is secure to all classes of the population. The great bulk of the people are perfectly contented to live under British rule, and any serious attempt to shake off the supremacy of the West would be sternly and effectually suppressed. India must remain an integral portion of the British Empire so long as the British nation continues to be predominant at home.