Comparison:
ChatGPT is dumber than it looks.
That’s not true for a screwdriver.
Or a table saw or even a spatula.
These are useful tools, but they don’t pretend to be well-informed or wise. They’re dumb, and they look dumb too.
That’s one reason that tools are effective. We use them to leverage our effort, but we don’t trust them to do things that they’re not good at.
The reason AI language models are dumb is that they don’t actually know anything, the model is simply calculating probabilities. Not about the unknown, but about everything. Each word, each sentence, is a statistical guess.
Tech, marketing, and gearhead Seth Godin reveals why we as a culture may have bowed a bit too quickly to AI. By bringing spatulas and screwdrivers into view he's able to note for us a central characteristic of AI that has been given much to little attention. In short, trust AI as far as you can throw it. Dumbwaiter indeed!
Context:
ChatGPT is dumber than it looks.
That’s not true for a screwdriver.
Or a table saw or even a spatula.
These are useful tools, but they don’t pretend to be well-informed or wise. They’re dumb, and they look dumb too.
That’s one reason that tools are effective. We use them to leverage our effort, but we don’t trust them to do things that they’re not good at.
The reason AI language models are dumb is that they don’t actually know anything, the model is simply calculating probabilities. Not about the unknown, but about everything. Each word, each sentence, is a statistical guess.
. . .
Don’t ignore AI because it’s dumb. Figure out how to create patterns and processes where you can use it as the useful tool it’s becoming.
Citation:
Godin, Seth. “ChatGPT is Dumber than it Looks.” Seth's Blog, 20 April 2024. Web.