Probably this debate is esoteric enough for you. But let’s see.

We start with a remark by Scott Aaronson on his Shtetl-Optimized Blog:

Last month, you’ll recall, Steve [Pinker} and I debated the implications of scaling AI models such as GPT-3 and DALL-E. A main crux of disagreement turned out to be whether there’s any coherent concept of “superintelligence.” I gave a qualified “yes” (I can’t provide necessary and sufficient conditions for it, nor do I know when AI will achieve it if ever, but there are certainly things an AI could do that would cause me to say it was achieved). Steve, by contrast, gave a strong “no.”

What, I’m sure you are asking, is superintelligence? And why, I’m sure you are asking, is Aaronson’s blog called “Shtetl-Optimized”?

“I’m so confused!” you exclaim.

Perhaps reading a bit of background (link also in the post linked above) will help.

But probably not.

I used to have a reasonable understanding of the state of AI in 1977. Or so I thought. Has it really progressed so far in a mere 45 years, so that now I have no idea what’s going on? Apparently so.

If you can make sense of all this, please do so.

Categories: Life, Technology