Comment by operatingthetan
15 days ago
The apple dictionary says the word means "prepared to obey others unquestioningly."
I don't think an inanimate object is capable of "obeying." Or at least that is a very strange way to refer to the act of using a tool.
When I actuate the chain on my chainsaw to move, it’s obeying me unquestionably, in the same way that when I press a key on my keyboard it obeys me unquestionably. What exactly is the difference?
It’s just a chain reaction. Obeying requires agency (the choice to follow the direction or not). LLMs and chainsaws don’t have it.
I think we agree with each other.
You can refer to it however you want, the outcome is the same.
This is a conversation about semantics, so suggesting semantics is irrelevant to the outcome is not germane to the discussion at hand.
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