Comment by mgraczyk
4 years ago
What is the difference between this and describing a human brain the same way? The brain is the model, you are "just" copying things from the memory of your brain to words that you speak or write?
I don't think it's pedantic to say that an argument is wrong because it's making an incorrect claim. The claim here is that there is something different or missing between a true "model" and LLMs, and that missing thing has something to do with "copying". But that's not true, the missing thing is the complexity of the table, or the size of the table. The fact that it's copying in some incredibly abstract sense doesn't matter.
i think humans are just copying every time we give an answer without much thought. we're either regurgitating something we previously thought/solved or something we heard somewhere.
when you have to put your head down and actually think for awhile, then maybe you're doing something new or at least not within your brain-training data. I don't think AI can do this yet. it can only copy pieces of its training data out to look like something new, but it isn't really. like when i was describing a video game idea i had to a friend and he called me out on just stealing bits of other games and mashing them together. he was right. it wasn't original. and this is all the AIs can do right now.