|
> I'm way more comfortable with the "stochastic parrot" framing, since we all know that parrots shouldn't always be taken seriously. First, comfort isn't a great gauge for truth. Second, many of us have seen this metaphor and we're done with it, because it confuses more than it helps. For commentary, you could do worse than [1] and [2]. I think this comment from [2] by "dr_s" is spot on: > There is no actual definition of stochastic parrot, it's just a derogatory
> definition to downplay "something that, given a distribution to sample
> from and a prompt, performs a kind of Markov process to repeatedly predict
> the most probable next token".
>
> The thing that people who love to sneer at AI like Gebru don't seem to
> get (or willingly downplay in bad faith) is that such a class of functions
> also include thing that if asked "write me down a proof of the Riemann
> hypothesis" says "sure, here it is" and then goes on to win a Fields
> medal. There are no particular fundamental proven limits on how powerful
> such a function can be. I don't see why there should be.
I suggest this: instead of making the stochastic parrot argument, make a specific prediction: what level of capabilities are out of reach? Give your reasons, too. Make your writing public and see how you do. I agree with "dr_s" -- I'm not going to bet against the capabilities of transformer based technologies, especially not ones with tool-calling as part of their design.To go a step further, some counter-arguments take the following shape: "If a transformer of size X doesn't have capability C, wait until they get bigger." I get it: this argument can feel unsatisfying to the extent it is open-ended with no resolution criteria. (Nevertheless, increasing scale has indeed shown to make many problems shallow!) So, if you want to play the game honestly, require specific, testable predictions. For example, ask a person to specify what size X' will yield capability C. [1]: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HxRjHq3QG8vcYy4yy/the-stocha... [2]: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7aHCZbofofA5JeKgb/memetic-ju... |
Isn't stochastic parrot just a modern reframing of Searle's Chinese room, or am I oversimplifying here?