Just casually reminding us all that computers have learnt to use language [video]

I really wrestle with "computers have learnt to use language". Really.

The term "stochastic parrot" keeps returning to mind. Does a parrot "use language"? Sure, gray parrots have been shown to mirror the "intelligence" of 4 year old humans [1]. But, for me, here's the rub, and this somewhat comes from Douglas Lenat's writings about his AM and Eurisko programs, where he pointed out that, while his programs had "discovered" novel (to the program, not humans) solutions, they had no clue how to name those solutions. In fairness, Eurisko did, in fact, make some discoveries in VLSI design [2].

The rub lies is in the fact that, like the Eurisko VLSI design discovery, there is no doubt in my mind that AI is now and will continue to evolve to be powerful tools in human endeavors to solve complex problems.

But, "using language" by a computer, in my mind, is hard to be interpreted in the same ways as humans use language. It's my opinion that some of the banter in the linked video seems to ignore that distinction.

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/02/harvard-study...

[2] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1609/aimag.v3i3.3...