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by pitspotter 1880 days ago
Worth emphasising that the knowledge of how to do these things like tying shoelaces and writing topology papers is contained in the surrounding culture. So if a machine can learn this culture, much of the complexity is outsourced. The ability to learn just one piece of existing culture conveys the ability to learn any other part of it, if one is inclined to do so.

>And that with just 20 Watt?

It is amazing; however there's a school of thought that just as we evolved brains in order to reduce physical effort generally this included minimising power consumption by the brain itself. Intelligence was then a by-product of a more glucose-efficient brain!

1 comments

'emphasising that knowledge...is contained in the surrounding culture'

This! And some more that is not in the brain. Not to say what is in the brain, but isn't considered as intelligence like emotions, that control large parts of the planetary biomass. Fear for example is a simple automatism that for the most part you don't need to replace with more 'intelligent' approaches and still has much more influence on human behaviour than abstract intelligence, whatever that may be. If it exists at all.

Personally, and I emphazise I am thrilled by what the AI crowd has done the last years, kudos to that, they look to me like someone quite bright, that pretends or even believes to understand the inner workings of a computer by simulation its GUI. If I'm right, my critisism would be, that's great and you're making really fun toys and gadgets and tools, but don't sell it to me as intelligence. That's just a marketing ploy.

That energy optimising theory of the brain you're mentioning sounds interesting, have to ponder that.

Many thanks!