jwzFeb 20, 2023

The best description I've ever heard of AI is the following. I heard this in the 80s, and it has held up since:

AI is magic.

1: You see a magic trick. You are amazed by the magic.

2: You are shown how the trick works. You are impressed by the technique.

3: You learn how to perform the trick. Now it's not magic, it's sleight-of-hand, or mirrors, or misdirection.

This is why "AI" is always bullshit: once you understand it, it's not AI any more, it's something else.

Show threadsortiusFeb 20, 2023
@jwz I like the analogy, but I'll say one thing having grown up in a magic household: you can still be amazed by the magic even when you know how a trick works, and that's the problem.
Show threadLisPiFeb 20, 2023
@sortius @jwz I'd say the loss of wonder and enjoyment in one's life is hardly something laudable.
Show threadjwzFeb 20, 2023
@lispi314 @sortius
I mean, you're always free to build a tail section out of palm fronds I guess? Maybe the cargo will return, who can say.
Show threadLisPi

@jwz I'm not sure if that's intended for me, but my point is that recognizing the brilliance of those tricks which compose your daily life is hardly opposed to understanding how they work or their limitations.

Magnetrons feel like magic. Even if you know how they work. They're neat & convenient.

We're engraving electrical channels in silicon using light (invisible light, even, for UV-based processes) to compute & display cat pictures on diode matrices.

Feb 20, 2023 at 9:44pmWeb