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by jtuple 1540 days ago
Thanks for the book reference, added to my list.

Concerning Philosophy of Mind, I guess a lot of this comes down to the whole reductive vs non-reductive physicalist issue.

IMO, if someone believes the mind is entirely physical, then I think AGI vs "the mind" is just semantics and definitions. I don't think anyone presumes AGI strictly requires digital computation. Eg. an analog circuit that filters a signal vs a DSP facsimile are both artificial, engineered constructions that are ~interchangeable. Perhaps computer aided design of non-digital intelligence technology is the way, who knows. But, a mind that can be engineered and mass-produced is AGI to me, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the AI/ML field that exists today.

If someone doesn't believe the mind is 100% physical, that's fine too. I'd just put that in the same bucket as the religious viewpoint. And to be clear, I don't pass judgement on either religious or "beyond our understanding" philosophical positions either. They could be entirely right! But, there's really not much to discuss on those points. If they're right, no AGI. If they're wrong, how do you disprove it other than waiting for AGI to appear someday as the proof-by-contraction?

> In general, I think you're implying the gap between the AI we have now, and animals, and humans, is way smaller than it really is.

The article/author might. I think the gap is huge which is why I think AGI is quite a ways off. In fact, I think the main blocker is actually our current (poor) understanding of neuroscience/the mind/etc.

I think the mind is entirely physical, but we lack understanding of how it all works. Advancements in ML, simulations, ML-driven computational science, etc could potentially accelerate all of this at some point and finally get us where we need to make progress.