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this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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i think the distinction that either side is seeing here is that you think humans are inherently different to a neural network, where i think that the only difference is in the complexity: that if we had a neural network at the same scale as the human brain, that there’s nothing stopping those electronic neurons from connecting and responding in a way that’s indistinguishable from a human
the fact that we’re not there yet i don’t see as particularly relevant, because we’re talking about concepts rather than specifics… of course a LLM doesn’t display the same characteristics as a human: it’s not of the same scale, and the training is different but functionally there’s nothing different between chemical neurons firing and neurons made of transistors firing
we learn in the same way: by reinforcing connections between our neurons
A few points:
Humans are more than just a brain. There’s the entire experience of ego, individualism, and body
Another massive distinction is autonomy and liberty, which no AI models currently possess.
We don’t know all there is to know about the human brain. We can’t say it is functionally equivalent to a neural network.
If complexity is irrelevant, then the simplest neural network trained on a single work of writing is equivalent to the most advanced models for the purposes of this discussion. Such a network would, again, output a copy of the work it was trained on
When we’ve developed a true self-aware AI that can move and think freely, the idea that there is little difference will have more weight to it.