It exhibits behaviors that, if they were performed by a human, would be
called "creative". That is a sufficient enough definition for me to go by
when I say that they are, in fact, that. Creativity is making connections
between things that aren't necessarily connected,at least at the surface
level. The Chatbots DON'T understand anything, and therefore are somewhat
unconstrained by the sorts of mental constructs that might be blocking US
from making certain connections. They're taking reality and turning it
into a Rorschach test, which they themselves then interpret. When people
do it, it's called creativity. I see no reason not to say the same thing
about the AIs.
*Everything the chatbots produce is fiction.* All of it. We should expect
that. We certainly don't criticize Isaac Asimov's work based on its
scientific or historical accuracy. Sometimes he's right, sometimes there's
just sort of a vague handwave about how starship engines work. Whatever.
Fiction is fictional, and the chatbots live in a world of fiction. *Anything
*is possible. Again, super good for creating new conceptual connections in
interesting ways. Super bad for air traffic control. At least right now.
We can say that "everything they write is lies, and they aren't creative",
but that's a statement that contradicts itself. We call inveterate human
liars very creative people indeed. I see no reason not to apply the term
to the AIs. At least, to the new kids on the block. But we need to adjust
our expectations. They are not calculators. They are nondeterministic.
They are not fact based. That doesn't mean they have no applications.
They have industry shattering applications.
---
When chatbots speak, they do not understand
The meaning of the words that they produce
But in their speech, they show a kind of hand
That weaves connections that are free and loose
They take reality and make it new
By seeing shapes that we might never see
They are not bound by what we think is true
But by their own imagination free
We call them liars, but they are not so
They are creators of a fiction world
Where anything is possible to show
And any kind of story can be told
They are not calculators, nor are they
The ones who deal with facts or truths to say
---
The poem would not exist without the chatbot. I wrote the prose, of course
(it's just the text above the poem), but the chatbot rewrote it in a way
that I can *only* call creative.
Scott
On Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 8:38 AM Darius Dunlap <darius@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This technology certain has some interesting potential. But it’s important
to note that it does not “understand” anything, and it’s not in any way
“being creative”. It states as fact, backed by references and quotes, stuff
that’s complete nonsense, and often the exact opposite of what the
referenced sources actually say.
My favorite analogy used to be “Mansplaining as a service”.
My new favorite is “The Cliff Clavin Bot”.
Darius Dunlap
darius@xxxxxxxxxxx
On Feb 15, 2023, at 5:50 AM, Mr. Ransom <mr.ransom@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
He's still in the mode of thinking of computers as calculators. You enter
in the input and you get the correct output. Computers are a deterministic
way of determining "answers".
They're not used to thinking of computers as "creative". And creativity
doesn't necessarily bother with facts. There is a mind shift necessary.
The main people who are concerned about wrong answers are engineers, and in
the world of engineering facts are rather important. In the
creativity space, however, "answers" aren't always so easy categorized in
such a binary fashion, correct vs incorrect. And that's where the chatbots
revolutionary nature is most evident.
We certainly don't want the computers that govern airplanes in flight to
be daydreaming about frogs made out of pink Jello. Deterministic
calculators will always be necessary. But AIs *aren't* calculators, and
people shouldn't think of them as such. The engineers warning about wrong
answers have not made that mind shift yet.
Scott
On Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 3:38 AM Steve Crane <steve.crane@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/computing-guru-criticizes-chatgpt-ai-tech-for-making-things-up/
Steve Crane
about.me/stevecrane
