> These models aren’t thinking.
They are for any definition of the word that makes any kind of sense. I'm sure you have a contorted definition that magically only includes humans though...
They are for any definition of the word that makes any kind of sense. I'm sure you have a contorted definition that magically only includes humans though...
For "thinking" here we mean "assessing a representation of an object". That, or equivalent, is required to be reliable. So it is fundamental and critical.
The models are simulating thinking, if the fidelity is good enough for you - great!
The normal definition of the word "thinking" definitely includes what LLMs do. Hell people used to say computers were thinking even before AI. It's super weird to get all uppity about the semantics of the word now.
If a model isn’t able to count to 100, but is able to use python to do math, it isn’t thinking.
If you are only an outcomes person, then this difference doesn’t matter to you.
But when people are talking about AGI, anthropomorphizing LLMs, and making assumptions on its behavior based on that, then people are being loose or misled.
Language changes over time anyway, so even if you really believe what LLMs are doing isn't the "thinking" of 2024, it probably will be the "thinking" of 2027, because most people are using it that way.