38 Comments

Just got around to this piece in my inbox! (I'm a little behind.)

I would highly recommend this Econtalk interview, that considers how a predictive text language model's success depends on largely on the predictability and unoriginality of the humans who wrote the material that trained it. (A mouthful, I know. https://www.econtalk.org/ian-leslie-on-being-human-in-the-age-of-ai/)

The previous GPT-3 language models of a few years ago were amazing, in the sense that you could feed it ridiculous queries and get hilarious results. "How many turduckens can I fit in my mouth?" It was fascinating in what it could do, but clearly limited by what it couldn't do.

The latest model is truly incredible. I had a really interesting conversation with it about the benefits and challenges of reading the Iliad. I asked it to compose a short, Star Wars-themed Christmas story. The r/ChatGPT subreddit is full of really interesting interactions that probe the capabilities and limitations. I don't think it's incredible because I think it is actually "Artificial Intelligence". I don't think it's about to take over the world, a la The Matrix.

But, it is going to change the world the way the calculator has. And the locomotive. And social media. Insidiously. With real economic benefits and human liabilities, as you astutely point out. Just as math students at some point become merely calculator operators, I think many language students may become language model operators. It is a sad reality. The plow shapes the field, and it shapes the plowman.

I think it's okay to be in awe of the power of the locomotive, recognize the economic benefits we get from them, and critical of the way trains have concentrated wealth and violated the land. The more we can understand this beast, the better we can be prepared for the future. The future will belong, more and more, to those who can think. That will be the scarcest and most valuable commodity.

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Feb 11, 2023Liked by Antonia Malchik

Love this piece. I am reminded of something I heard Dr. Iain McGilchrist utter during a conversation I listened to a couple of months ago:

"Attention is a moral act because it changes what is actually there in the world for us to find. It changes us."

We must take care in how we attend to the world. It matters.

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Feb 11, 2023Liked by Antonia Malchik

So cool! I thought I learned a lot reading your essays and now I can double that gain by reading the comments! Your readership's knowledge and thoughtfulness is remarkable! Thanks everyone here for expanding my consciousness :-) very cool community!

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Thank you for this lovely gift. Both your thoughts about AI and attention and these recommendations - I want to read and listen to all of them! I have a similar version of your challenge to counter the beguilement of AI, to turn to consider and nurture human potential. Mine goes something like - what if we turn our attention to the countless marvels of our non-human kin, in the places where we live? AI leaves me cold but exploring my relationship with other beings is a source of endless fascination, wonder, awe and gratitude.

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Feb 10, 2023Liked by Antonia Malchik

What captured this cowboy's attention this evening (and was not vying with the real world to commodify and exploit me) was dippers. As I walked the planks covering the steel railroad car bridge over the river, they were swimming, darting and frolicking below. They splashed from the cold water onto rocks and snags. As I always do on this bridge I myself dipped as these friendly birds do. Whether or not this gesture of affinity is understood by the birds, of course they noticed it, as beings are naturally tuned acutely into their surroundings and can’t help but be aware of such things. If they sensed as well my delight in their their presence, perhaps my dipping meant something to them as well. The deepest prayer I have to offer the world is the delight in being at this place at this very moment. If both we and our tools become too robotic, we loose not only the delight of life sustaining activity but also the delight in being our selves in our sensuous immersion in the world. Whether we make cars, clothing, weapons, food, homes, robots or railroad car bridges, what we inevitably produce as bi-products in ever increasing amounts is toxic residues.

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Feb 10, 2023Liked by Antonia Malchik

Reminds me of what Laurie Anderson always quote about technology, which is a quote from a cyber expert (can’t remember the name) : “if you think technology can solve your problems, you don’t understand technology and you don’t understand your problems”

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Yet again so thoughtful. No prescription except that people should commit to thinking rather than ride the wave.

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Feb 9, 2023Liked by Antonia Malchik

So good. Thank you

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Long comment redacted and replaced with: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

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Spot on as usual, Antonia; thank you! Mary Oliver was right: to pay attention - this is our endless and proper work.

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