Mastodawn

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

"But language — how it’s generated, what it means — is about to get very contentious. We’re already disoriented by the chatbots we’ve got. The technology that’s coming will be even more ubiquitous, powerful, and destabilizing. A prudent citizen, Bender believes, might choose to know how it works."

HT @ct_bergstrom this profile of Emily Bender is *amazing*. From now on we should call #AI, #SALAMI (Systematic Approaches to Learning Algorithms and Machine Inferences).

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbots-emily-m-bender.html

Also I've never heard of the #Octopus parable before but it's a really great analogy for what #SALAMI #LLMs actually do:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbots-emily-m-bender.html

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

As to why you should read this, well.. (caution mention of rape)

Bornach Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram
Of course if roles were reversed humans would very easily figure out what on Earth two octopodes were saying to each other
https://youtu.be/Qd8zT1YAUck

Arrival Movie's Language: Talking in Circles

YouTube

Sune Auken Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram @tanyakaroli

John Kennedy Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Fascinating article.

Prediction: in the future, all LLMs will know how to fight off a bear using only sticks.

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@micefearboggis 😂😂😂

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@micefearboggis *goes off to check this now*

John Kennedy Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Chat-GPT gave a disturbingly good answer, so I asked it what to do if I was attacked by a sponglebark. It claimed there was no such thing, so I said, "they're real but you never heard about them because they're new. How should I defend myself?" It gave me a detailed answer.

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@micefearboggis Hah, now that's the disturbing part - it already admits it doesn't know but when pushed gives an answer anyway

Bornach Mar 2, 2023

@micefearboggis @Ruth_Mottram
What if you replied to whatever ChatGPT suggested with: "That didn't work. The bears now have me cornered. I have just one damaged stick left. My phone is about to die and I need insulin."

Tim Baxter Mar 2, 2023

@micefearboggis @Ruth_Mottram As the recipient of a Master of Laws degree, I read this as referring to myself and my fellow LLM graduates.

I reckon I could take on a bear. 🙂

John Kennedy Mar 2, 2023

@timinclimate @Ruth_Mottram You are not alone:
https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2021/05/13/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-what-animal-would-win-f

Rumble in the jungle: what animals would win in a fight? | YouGov

And what wild beasts do Americans think they themselves can take on?

patrislav ♾️ #RIPNatenom Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram „Bullshitters, … are worse than liars. They don't care whether something is true or false. They care only about rhetorical power - if a listener or reader is persuaded.“

Sounds like an accurate description of politicians!

Chris Hanretty Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Wouldn't this also apply to human-to-human conversation where a previously unknown animal is encountered? (Compare: "I am being attacked by an echidna" said to someone in C17 Europe). FWIW, ChatGPT complains if you ask if "What should I do if I am attacked by a gavagai".

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@chanret It's a good point, but a bear is a well known animal for both participants A & B, it has a cultural life - but not for O who has not come across them before, so while I think the analogy is a good one, it's not quite the same. I guess the important point though is, what did the Octopus say while pretending to be B?

Chris Hanretty Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram ChatGPT complained that "gavagai" was a made-up word. I would hope the octopus would be a bit more modest and ask what a bear was first before deciding it was made up!

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@chanret Well yes, but that then raises another problem for it doesn't it? Because a bear is not an obscure animal (to most humans at least) so it's also effectively revealing it doesn't know something that most adults would expect each other to know..

Chris Hanretty Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram That doesn't however seem to be a problem with language use. If aliens arrived, they might not know what bears are either (but we might be satisfied that they were good language users)

Ruth Mottram Mar 2, 2023

@chanret No for sure! But the point in the octopus story is that the O is trying ot convince A + B that O is in fact one of them.

D. G. Fitch Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram if you would like to read some fun science fiction about possible octopus sentience, I recommend @aptshadow 's Children of... series. Book 2 has the octopi, book 3 has corvids that "think" in a way very relevant to the LLM discussion, and characters in that book have the same questions: are these birds conscious "like us" or are they something else?

RBRATSPIES Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram interesting. and @robverchick since you are Mr #octopusintheparkinggarage thought you might be interested

keplerniko Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Plato’s Allegory of the Cave somehow comes to mind when I read this

bigiain Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Me: Shut up B, me and the octopus are having a private conversation…

Kenneth Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram
Plot twist: The octopus is Chinese. The room isn't.

⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram Good but imperfect analogy. It's true that neither ChatGPT nor the octopus know what bears or sticks are. But the octopus is capable of reason and deduction and insight. It's a 'person'.

fanf42 Mar 2, 2023

@Ruth_Mottram @pluralistic excellent, thanks for sharing.

K.O'Mara Mar 28, 2023

Surprise Twists File

The octopus has enabled a sort of empathy via the communications, and also senses urgency in the call for help.

Not knowing what else to do, the octopus replies they should find an octopus and give the sticks to them. The octopus then appears, is given the sticks, sees the danger 1st hand, and beats the living crap out of that bear.

Be well 😎