Models don't have "controversial takes".
They are repeating a form of what they've compressed from their training material.
Most philosophical questions get answers I would expect as meanderings from a bunch of Reddit posts, because the model was trained on meanderings from a bunch of Reddit posts.
Yes, some books and papers were thrown in as well, but most of the writing and research available in ebook form will be from the last ~40 years where writers have been grappling with the tension between religion and secularism, and conservative values and liberalism (including discussions of how gender, sexuality and race are treated by society), as they impact global geopolitics.
LLMs don't think. They reflect. They mirror. They ape. They're you, and me, and everyone around us, compressed into a median that is stochastically produced and framed as original thought. Some philosophers argue that's what all humans do too (nature vs nurture - how many of your beliefs and opinions are your own vs those you were exposed to in your environment?).
We need to start seeing - and discussing - the wizard behind the curtain, the tool for what it is more.
The only interesting question for me is, given this consistent compression of philosophy, what effect will it have on us as a civilization if predictions of AI taking over the controls of it come to pass? Will it decide we're too irrational to be in control? That by seeking autonomy as a species we're just looking for "membership of a tribe", rather than "seeking truth", and so we must be stopped?
They are repeating a form of what they've compressed from their training material.
Most philosophical questions get answers I would expect as meanderings from a bunch of Reddit posts, because the model was trained on meanderings from a bunch of Reddit posts.
Yes, some books and papers were thrown in as well, but most of the writing and research available in ebook form will be from the last ~40 years where writers have been grappling with the tension between religion and secularism, and conservative values and liberalism (including discussions of how gender, sexuality and race are treated by society), as they impact global geopolitics.
LLMs don't think. They reflect. They mirror. They ape. They're you, and me, and everyone around us, compressed into a median that is stochastically produced and framed as original thought. Some philosophers argue that's what all humans do too (nature vs nurture - how many of your beliefs and opinions are your own vs those you were exposed to in your environment?).
We need to start seeing - and discussing - the wizard behind the curtain, the tool for what it is more.
The only interesting question for me is, given this consistent compression of philosophy, what effect will it have on us as a civilization if predictions of AI taking over the controls of it come to pass? Will it decide we're too irrational to be in control? That by seeking autonomy as a species we're just looking for "membership of a tribe", rather than "seeking truth", and so we must be stopped?