Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Brite
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (Cyborg)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Brand Logo

CIRCLE WITH A DOT

  1. Home
  2. Uncategorized
  3. I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Uncategorized
47 Posts 35 Posters 25 Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

    I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

    AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
    AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
    AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
    AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
    AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

    Remember: the robot is not a person.

    S This user is from outside of this forum
    S This user is from outside of this forum
    steppl@mastodon.social
    wrote last edited by
    #8

    @drahardja

    Agree on that. I guess it's part of the human nature to use terms you know on things you hardly understand as non tech person.

    I recall seeing some TV / Film stuff explaining computers back from 70/80s. I would almost put my hand in fire that they said stuff like, CPU is brain and RAM is memory

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

      I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

      AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
      AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
      AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
      AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
      AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

      Remember: the robot is not a person.

      david@social.piconet.workD This user is from outside of this forum
      david@social.piconet.workD This user is from outside of this forum
      david@social.piconet.work
      wrote last edited by
      #9

      @drahardja Regurgitate is an animal bodily function. AI doesn’t have a body. I think what I’m getting at is that there aren’t many appropriate words to describe how it works.

      drahardja@sfba.socialD 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • robin_wren@mastoart.socialR robin_wren@mastoart.social

        @drahardja While I agree with the premise, I do want to point out that we, humans, have a tendency to anthropomorphize anything.
        I'll apologize to a potted plant if I knock it off the window sill...

        jairajdevadiga@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
        jairajdevadiga@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
        jairajdevadiga@mastodon.social
        wrote last edited by
        #10

        @robin_wren @drahardja At least the plant is a living organism.

        robin_wren@mastoart.socialR 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

          I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

          AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
          AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
          AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
          AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
          AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

          Remember: the robot is not a person.

          mikestok@mstdn.caM This user is from outside of this forum
          mikestok@mstdn.caM This user is from outside of this forum
          mikestok@mstdn.ca
          wrote last edited by
          #11

          @drahardja @talexb a client wants me to use the Claude tool, and one thing I am training myself to do is be consistent in my use of “the Claude tool” in any communication including commits. It is not a co-worker in any more meaningful sense than a magic 8 ball I decided to call Ian.

          talexb@fosstodon.orgT 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
          • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

            I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

            AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
            AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
            AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
            AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
            AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

            Remember: the robot is not a person.

            gisgeek@floss.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
            gisgeek@floss.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
            gisgeek@floss.social
            wrote last edited by
            #12

            @drahardja
            I would properly use the output verb, which is expected for a computer program. Minsky did great damage to the whole research sector when he invented the AI allocution in his thesis.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

              I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

              AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
              AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
              AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
              AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
              AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

              Remember: the robot is not a person.

              lehtimaeki@snapp.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
              lehtimaeki@snapp.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
              lehtimaeki@snapp.social
              wrote last edited by
              #13

              @drahardja
              Also, using "AI" for LLMs is misleading. There's no I.

              mrgrumpymonkey@mastodon.socialM 1 Reply Last reply
              1
              0
              • R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
              • mikestok@mstdn.caM mikestok@mstdn.ca

                @drahardja @talexb a client wants me to use the Claude tool, and one thing I am training myself to do is be consistent in my use of “the Claude tool” in any communication including commits. It is not a co-worker in any more meaningful sense than a magic 8 ball I decided to call Ian.

                talexb@fosstodon.orgT This user is from outside of this forum
                talexb@fosstodon.orgT This user is from outside of this forum
                talexb@fosstodon.org
                wrote last edited by
                #14

                @MikeStok @drahardja I keep coming back to the same there questions.

                1. How do you know that the Claude code works?
                2. How do you know it's safe?
                3. What's the provenance of the code?

                mikestok@mstdn.caM 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

                  I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

                  AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
                  AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
                  AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
                  AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
                  AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

                  Remember: the robot is not a person.

                  thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT This user is from outside of this forum
                  thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT This user is from outside of this forum
                  thraeryn@masto.hackers.town
                  wrote last edited by
                  #15

                  ChatGPT, Claude, none of them "know" about the question you're asking or "know" the answer.

                  Photoshop doesn't "know" what's in the photo you're editing or the digital art you're creating by clicking a portion of the screen to select a tool, then clicking another portion to use it.

                  They are computer programs. They run instructions to process your input against the data the program is using and deliver output.

                  You type. You click. It does special math. You see things on-screen.

                  (@drahardja )

                  thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

                    I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

                    AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
                    AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
                    AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
                    AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
                    AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

                    Remember: the robot is not a person.

                    plantagolabs@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
                    plantagolabs@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
                    plantagolabs@mastodon.social
                    wrote last edited by
                    #16

                    @drahardja I think regurgitate is still too biological.

                    I prefer the sentence "AI interpolates swollen data. An interpolation function sometimes matches reality, sometimes not."

                    drahardja@sfba.socialD 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT thraeryn@masto.hackers.town

                      ChatGPT, Claude, none of them "know" about the question you're asking or "know" the answer.

                      Photoshop doesn't "know" what's in the photo you're editing or the digital art you're creating by clicking a portion of the screen to select a tool, then clicking another portion to use it.

                      They are computer programs. They run instructions to process your input against the data the program is using and deliver output.

                      You type. You click. It does special math. You see things on-screen.

                      (@drahardja )

                      thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT This user is from outside of this forum
                      thraeryn@masto.hackers.townT This user is from outside of this forum
                      thraeryn@masto.hackers.town
                      wrote last edited by
                      #17

                      @drahardja Ha, actually, that may be a decent start to some new terms folks could try to popularize.

                      "I needed a cover letter, so I got one of the bots to crank out some special math."

                      "Ugh, I didn't want to code that bit, so I went to Claude to auto-generate it for me. Unfortunately, it gave me some 'special' math—the REALLY 'special' kind. Wasted twenty minutes sorting through the garbage it produced before just fucking doing it myself anyway."

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • jairajdevadiga@mastodon.socialJ jairajdevadiga@mastodon.social

                        @robin_wren @drahardja At least the plant is a living organism.

                        robin_wren@mastoart.socialR This user is from outside of this forum
                        robin_wren@mastoart.socialR This user is from outside of this forum
                        robin_wren@mastoart.social
                        wrote last edited by
                        #18

                        @jairajdevadiga @drahardja I think you know what I meant, though.

                        prinlu@0x.trans.failP 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • dckim@mastodon.socialD dckim@mastodon.social

                          @drahardja seems very much like what actual people do:

                          People don't answer-they regurgitate plausible output that the educational system taught them was right.

                          I suppose that depends all on the quality of the person. A very robotic person, who believes everything they are taught is actually very close to the same quality of output we might expect from the AI.

                          So, if those are the people who are eliminated, maybe it's okay. They are just mediocre anyway, claiming common knowledge as expertise.

                          dontreportme@mastodon.onlineD This user is from outside of this forum
                          dontreportme@mastodon.onlineD This user is from outside of this forum
                          dontreportme@mastodon.online
                          wrote last edited by
                          #19

                          @dckim @drahardja
                          This reply shows that the next paragraph after dehumanization is elimination.

                          dckim@mastodon.socialD 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • talexb@fosstodon.orgT talexb@fosstodon.org

                            @MikeStok @drahardja I keep coming back to the same there questions.

                            1. How do you know that the Claude code works?
                            2. How do you know it's safe?
                            3. What's the provenance of the code?

                            mikestok@mstdn.caM This user is from outside of this forum
                            mikestok@mstdn.caM This user is from outside of this forum
                            mikestok@mstdn.ca
                            wrote last edited by
                            #20

                            @talexb

                            In this case I have, as Baldrick might say, a cunning plan.

                            I have “inherited“ a Rails app with no tests which reflects the state of Rails 10+ years ago.

                            So I let the Claude tool extrude tests for all the endpoints (lots of reasonable examples in the training data, I hope) and make them pass.

                            As I don’t allow the Claude tool to do git commits, and I have a copy of the code inaccessible to the host the tool is running on for good measure, I can see the less than 20 lines of the core application the tool has interfered with and review them. My hunch is they are signals of bigger changes I need to make, and I hope I can quickly expunge the tool’s code from the non-test codebase quickly.

                            I wish I could say the tool’s code was worse than the application code, but that’s a beer chat!

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • dontreportme@mastodon.onlineD dontreportme@mastodon.online

                              @dckim @drahardja
                              This reply shows that the next paragraph after dehumanization is elimination.

                              dckim@mastodon.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                              dckim@mastodon.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                              dckim@mastodon.social
                              wrote last edited by
                              #21

                              @dontreportme @drahardja good point there. My proposed equivalency is only a brutal dehumanization. Well said.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • plantagolabs@mastodon.socialP plantagolabs@mastodon.social

                                @drahardja I think regurgitate is still too biological.

                                I prefer the sentence "AI interpolates swollen data. An interpolation function sometimes matches reality, sometimes not."

                                drahardja@sfba.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                drahardja@sfba.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                drahardja@sfba.social
                                wrote last edited by
                                #22

                                @plantagolabs I also like to use the word “extrude” instead of regurgitate.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • david@social.piconet.workD david@social.piconet.work

                                  @drahardja Regurgitate is an animal bodily function. AI doesn’t have a body. I think what I’m getting at is that there aren’t many appropriate words to describe how it works.

                                  drahardja@sfba.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  drahardja@sfba.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  drahardja@sfba.social
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #23

                                  @david I also like the word “extrude”

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • robin_wren@mastoart.socialR robin_wren@mastoart.social

                                    @drahardja While I agree with the premise, I do want to point out that we, humans, have a tendency to anthropomorphize anything.
                                    I'll apologize to a potted plant if I knock it off the window sill...

                                    gdinwiddie@mastodon.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
                                    gdinwiddie@mastodon.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
                                    gdinwiddie@mastodon.social
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #24

                                    @robin_wren @drahardja
                                    Yeah, but don’t anthropomorphize computer programs. They hate that!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

                                      I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

                                      AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
                                      AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
                                      AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
                                      AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
                                      AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

                                      Remember: the robot is not a person.

                                      P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      paridimal@mastodon.social
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #25

                                      @drahardja

                                      But it helps me to do one day of my work in one hour!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

                                        I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

                                        AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
                                        AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
                                        AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
                                        AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
                                        AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

                                        Remember: the robot is not a person.

                                        onedawnconstant@climatejustice.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                                        onedawnconstant@climatejustice.socialO This user is from outside of this forum
                                        onedawnconstant@climatejustice.social
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #26

                                        @drahardja That is the correct way to describe GenAI: nothing more than context and probability

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • drahardja@sfba.socialD drahardja@sfba.social

                                          I am asking people once again to stop describing #AI using human words and attributes.

                                          AI doesn’t answer—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be right.
                                          AI doesn’t hallucinate—it regurgitates plausible output that happens to be wrong.
                                          AI doesn’t have agency—it regurgitates plausible output that is consumed by a computer program.
                                          AI doesn’t think—it regurgitates plausible output that is fed back into itself to try again.
                                          AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates a mixture of its training data.

                                          Remember: the robot is not a person.

                                          thad@brontosin.spaceT This user is from outside of this forum
                                          thad@brontosin.spaceT This user is from outside of this forum
                                          thad@brontosin.space
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #27

                                          @drahardja Not to disagree with your point, but it's interesting to me how anthropomorphizing cognitive functions (answer, hallucinate, etc.) trips people up but anthropomorphizing biological ones (like regurgitate) doesn't.

                                          drahardja@sfba.socialD 1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups