Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by inferiorhuman 336 days ago

   it’s in comprehension … what they can do is understand 
Well, no. The glaringly obvious recent example was the answer that Adolf Hitler could solve global warming.

My friend's car is perhaps the less polarizing example. It wouldn't start and even had a helpful error code. The AI answer was you need to replace an expensive module. Took me about five minutes with basic tools to come up with a proper diagnosis (not the expensive module). Off to the shop where they confirmed my diagnosis and completed the repair.

The car was returned with a severe drivability fault and a new error code. AI again helpfully suggested replace a sensor. I talked my friend through how to rule out the sensor and again AI was proven way off base in a matter of minutes. After I took it for a test drive I diagnosed a mechanical problem entirely unrelated to AI's answer. Off to the shop it went where the mechanical problem was confirmed, remedied, and the physically damaged part was returned to us.

AI doesn't comprehend anything. It merely regurgitates whatever information it's been able to hoover up. LLMs merely are glorified search engines.