[labrador]

I'm a skeptical optimist. I'm always asking people to explain to me why they think GPT-4 has a mind, but so far I haven't recieved a satisfactory explanation.

I found this on 4chan that fits how I feel, maybe too optimistic, but I'm also a pronoiac [1]

Al as the emancipator of mankind Anonymous (ID: 2aPu4eoe ) 04/01/23 No.421909126

Since the dawn of our existence, humans have fought against the elements and sought to overcome our physical limitations. Now that the solution is close at hand, are you excited?

With the advent of Al and super technology, we are on the brink of the next stage in human civilization, but this doesn't come without immediate social challenges, such as worker redundancy. To combat the problem, governments will impose restrictions on the technology, but this will only serve to slow down the change.

As human labor can increasingly be replaced by machines, the material burden of society will decrease, but also human usefulness. This will force people into increasingly specialized tasks, shrinking the number of people who are qualified to work and also the requirement on work force size. This will undoubtedly challenge the current economic system, and wealth redistribution will come into effect. The only alternative is human suffering.

As people are alleviated of work and have more free time, more time can be spent on recreational activities. However, humans also want meaning in their life, and something to solve, and the opportunity will arise to tackle new problems, such as righting social wrongs and in general coming into a more harmonious and peaceful coexistence with others. The political arena will open up, enabling more equal participation, which will lead to a decrease in corruption, elitism and to a more just society in general.

The transformation of the bottom line is what will ultimately transform the human condition, so I hope you are excited about Al. Don't listen to doomsayers who fear what this can mean for the status quo.

[1] Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings by Rob Brezsny

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/137022

[mrob]

Why do you think having a mind is of any relevance to AI risk? The danger is in the combination of power and alien values. Whether AI has something analogous to human consciousness or not makes no difference to the outcome.

[labrador]

Who said anything about risk? I'm just curious about why people think it has a mind. I've heard people estimate it has a mind of a child. Naturally I ask them how they come to that conclusion. Just to be clear. I think it's a clever piece of software with no mind at all.

[lostmsu]

I haven't really seen anyone rebuke the Turing test, and in a Turing test GPT-4 against children seems like children would have no chances.

[labrador]

I don't get a sense that it's a person like some people do. Maybe because I've been writing software all my life. It's pretty clever, but it glitches like a machine and says things no person would ever say, but a text generator would. I'm afraid I've insulted people by saying if you tell me GPT-4 has a mind what you are really telling me is that you are not smarter than GPT-4 as in "tell me that you are not smarter than GPT-4 without telling me your not smarter than GPT-4" but maybe that's unfair because I'm a software developer. I quickly try to mitigate the insult by saying I soon expect to have an AI smarter than me, maybe GPT-5 that I won't be able to tell about.

[shrimp_emoji]

In other words: it doesn't pass your Turing test. :p

I agree; talking to it for an hour or two, it becomes pretty obvious it's not a humanoid mind typing back at you.

What "a mind" means -- or what "consciousness" means or if it even exists -- is a separate can of undefined worms.

[labrador]

GPT-4 reminds of some smart mentally ill friends I've had, but even they are disordered in human ways while GPT-4 hallucinates in machine ways. I suspect people who think GPT-4 has a mind just don't have a lot of experience talking to a variety of people.

[lostmsu]

> I don't get a sense that it's a person like some people do.

Are you a child?

[labrador]

I don't understand your question because obviously I am not. If you have a point why don't you make it. I am throttled on Hacker News so I won't be able to respond for awhile.

[JohnFen]

> With the advent of Al and super technology, we are on the brink of the next stage in human civilization

This is just as hyperbolic and unrealistic as those who think that AI is going to kill all humans because it considers us an unacceptable risk.

[labrador]

It seems to me that with AI assisting in genetic engineering allowing us to take charge of our own evolution that might qualify as the next stage of human civilization, but perhaps I watch too much science fiction

[mrob]

What level of risk would a superintelligent AI consider "acceptable" when it comes to failure to accomplish its goal?

[JohnFen]

I don't know, as I've never experienced a superintelligent AI. The part I doubt is that we'll see AGI in our lifetime at all, let alone a superintelligent one.