Want to wade into the sandy surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.
Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)
Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)
Opening the sack with this shit that spawned in front of me:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says GPT-8 will be true AGI if it solves quantum gravity — the father of quantum computing agrees
Guess it won’t be true AGI!
On top of everything else, "the father of quantum computing" is such lazy writing. People were thinking about it before Deutsch, going back at least to Paul Benioff in 1979. Charlie Bennett and Giles Brassard's proposal for quantum key distribution predates Deutsch's quantum Turing machine... No one person should be called "the father of" a subject that had so many crucial contributors in such a short period of time.
Also, chalk up another win for the "billionaires want you to think they are physicists" hypothesis. It's perhaps not as dependable as pedocon theory, but it's putting in a strong showing.
And then you read the article and he is basically just saying big if true.
Pigs will be a true method of space exploration if they can fly to Mars in 1 hour.
GPT-8: The Ocho
Now trained with comprehensive coverage of top-fuel lawnmower racing and timbersports
I hear GPT-8 will broadcast a dyson sphere circumnavigation race
Is this true for everything else, too? I will be a true AGI if I solve quantum gravity. A half eaten salami will be true AGI if it solves quantum gravity. My grandmother will be a true bicycle if she has wheels.
If saltman knew what quantum gravity was and why LLMs won’t solve it first, maybe he’d have general intelligence
wait, how much compute would they need for this, ignore patent absurdity of it all for a minute? would they wrap it up under 1 quadrillion dollars?
If we knew that we wouldn't need a GPT-8 to solve quantum gravity, would we now?
maybe 2, for good measure
So as historically new versions are made about every ~2 years. This means we are 6 years out.
E: late edit, but this made me realize how often people use AGI to mean ASI. And that I also often do it.