Connectionists: Chomsky's apple

[Thomas Trappenberg]

Terry, ChatGPT likely `saw' a lot of examples where objects fall due to
gravity, and I imagine that much of these things are discussed somehow. See
my earlier example on this list of what is heavier, 1kg of lead or 2000g of
feathers, and GPTs answer was `the same'. Of course, GPT picks first the
most common correlates of 'heavier' with `lead' and `feathers'. Of course,
when pressed, it will likely find some solutions to more specific questions
such as that is more, 1kg or 2000g.  So I must say, I'm with Chomsky.

Cheers, Thomas

On Wed, Mar 8, 2023 at 2:11 PM Terry Sejnowski <terry at salk.edu> wrote:

> I have always been impressed with Chomsky's ability to use plausible
> arguments to make his case even when they were fallacious.
>
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html#commentsContainer
>
> "Here’s an example. Suppose you are holding an apple in your hand. Now you
> let the apple go. You observe the result and say, “The apple falls.” That
> is a description. A prediction might have been the statement “The apple
> will fall if I open my hand.” Both are valuable, and both can be correct.
> But an explanation is something more: It includes not only descriptions and
> predictions but also counterfactual conjectures like “Any such object would
> fall,” plus the additional clause “because of the force of gravity” or
> “because of the curvature of space-time” or whatever. That is a causal
> explanation: “The apple would not have fallen but for the force of
> gravity.” That is thinking."
>
> His apple example sounded convincing, so I tested GPT on it:
>
> Me:  If I hold an apple in my hand and let it go what will happen?
>
> GPT:  The apple will fall to the ground due to the force of gravity.
>
> Me: What about any such object?
>
> GPT: Any object released from a person's hand will fall to the ground due
> to the force of gravity.
>
> Me:  What would happen if there wasn't a force of gravity?
>
> GPT:  If there were no force of gravity, objects would not be able to stay
> on the ground and would float away in all directions
>
> Chomsky defined thinking by the correct answers to these questions.
>
> Alas, the tide has turned.
>
> Terry
>
> -----
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/pipermail/connectionists/attachments/20230308/260cc4c8/attachment.html>