Artificial Intelligence i.e. Doing without Thinking

AI may prove more dangerous as it advances, but it will never generate actual intelligence so long as the basic assumptions of the field remain unchanged. Take the LLMs: they scan and process texts often in a way that is indistinguishable from human output, while lacking any understanding or cognitive ability. It is undeniable even to the most sceptical to recognise LLMs extraordinary capabilities.

It doesn’t help the cause to be sceptical or optimistic, though. What I believe is helpful, is to see AI for what it is - #realAI. It is probably not sexy nor very appealing – a real disappointment for those in the business of generating hot air.

When IBM’s Deep Blue won against Garry Kasparov in 1997, the Chess grandmaster said: “Anything we can do (…) machines will do it better (…) If we can codify it, and pass it to computers, they will do it better.” There is a clue in Kasparov’s words: i𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜. The thing is that we are still trying to understand how is it that human beings are intelligent. Many aspects of our cognition remain mysterious; we are yet to codify the process. Could it be that the road to Artificial General Intelligence is closed by our lack of clarity regarding how the brain works?

Luciano Floridi has some interesting remarks: “We have not even yet comprehended how the human brain functions; we do not know what consciousness is. We are beginning to grasp some ideas now, but it remains a largely uncharted territory. 𝗛𝗼𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲? 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲. However, the analogy of the brain to a computer is losing its grip as we now know it is not so [...] we are moving on to the next technology, the quantum computer, repeating the same mistake.” Spot on.

I am increasingly becoming persuaded that another 𝑨𝑰 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 may come – but it is avoidable. And if it comes, it can help cool things down a bit. I maintain that we would make some real progress the moment we 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝑰, weak, strong, general, and whatnot.  AI is a machine designed to process data. That’s as far as it goes. A human, on the other hand, is something far more complex than a machine that processes information. We do process information, but we also have emotions, creativity, critical reflection and intuition, as well as many other qualities, not to mention a biology that a machine cannot replicate.

Let’s cut through the AI hype that’s permeating the current 𝒛𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒈𝒆𝒊𝒔𝒕 in the business world.