[globnomulous]

I don't know why you're quoting, or stressing, a word I didn't use.

I once got into an argument with a date about the existence of God and the soul. She asked whether I really think we're "just" physical stuff. I told her, "no, I'm not saying we're 'just' physical stuff. I'm saying we're physical stuff." That 'just' is simply a statement of how she feels about the idea, not a criticism of what I was claiming. I don't accept that there's anything missing if we're atoms rather than atoms plus magic, because I don't feel any need for there to be magic.

Your brain is indeed physical stuff. You also have a mind. You experience your own mind and perceive yourself as an intending being with a guiding intelligence. How that relates to or arises from the physical stuff is not well understood, but everything we know about the properties and capabilities of the mind tells us that it is inextricably related to the body that gives rise to it.

Neural nets are indeed matrix multiplication. If you're implying that there is a guiding intelligence, just as there is in the mind, I think you're off in La La Land.

[wruza]

“That’s all they do” and “just” are interchangeable. All you do is transferring electric charges across synapses, and all molecules do is bouncing off each other, but this reduction doesn’t explain neither thinking nor flying. In this case you’re saying “That’s all they do”, which means “just” to others.

Don’t even try to argue, cause all I do is typing letters and you’ll only get more letters in response ;)

[globnomulous]

Hah!

> “That’s all they do” and “just” are interchangeable

That's a valid point, thanks. I could have stated what I was saying more effectively. I just (edit: heh, "just.") meant that, definitionally, LLMs are token predictors, and saying so doesn't belittle them any more than it avoids some unpleasant reality; it is the reality, to the best of my understanding.

[relaxing]

> “That’s all they do” and “just” are interchangeable.

I disagree. Whereas “do” is a verb, “just”, as an adverb, implies an entirety of being, an essence. And a system is not solely its actions.

[globnomulous]

I think the person you're answering is correct. "They just do X" and "All they do is X" are logically interchangeable. They define the exact same set -- and convey the same dismissive tone.

[relaxing]

You used the word do in both cases.

[fragmede]

you used the entire phrase "That's all they do." in place of the word just.