Sorry for the late reply - work is consuming everything :)

I suspect that we are (like LLMs) mostly “sophisticated pattern recognition systems trained on vast amounts of data.”

Considering the claim that LLMs have “no true understanding”, I think there isn’t a definition of “true understanding” that would cleanly separate humans and LLMs. It seems clear that LLMs are able to extract the information contained within language, and use that information to answer questions and inform decisions (with adequately tooled agents). I think that acquiring and using information is what’s relevant, and that’s solved.

Engaging with the real world is mostly a matter of tooling. Real-time learning and more comprehensive multi-modal architectures are just iterations on current systems.

I think it’s quite relevant that the Turing Test has essentially been passed by machines. It’s our instinct to gatekeep intellect, moving the goalposts as they’re passed in order to affirm our relevance and worth, but LLMs have our intellectual essence, and will continue to improve rapidly while we stagnate.

There is still progress to be made before we’re obsolete, but I think it will be just a few years, and then it’s just a question of cost efficiency.

Anyways, we’ll see! Thanks for the thoughtful reply

niche communities are still struggling due to the chicken-and-egg problem (and reddit dominance), but it’s improving

if there is a party, it’s about lemmy’s inevitable growth amidst reddit enshittification

relative to where we were before LLMs, I think we’re quite close

the extent that Trump has gone to remove barriers to committing atrocities likely corresponds to the extent he intends to commit them

Peer to peer.

I’ve spent a bit of time developing some related ideas, but haven’t had time to start building it.

It’s a bit rough still, but I’d love some feedback! https://freetheinter.net/

we have to use trust from real life. it’s the only thing that centralized entities can’t fake

I think we have to build systems that use real-life interpersonal trust networks so that centralized entities cannot just outspend and bot their way to prominence.

I think the key is building a social information system based on connections we have in real life. Key exchange parties, etc

It’s the only way to introduce a prohibitively high cost to centralized broadcast and reduce the power of these mega-entities

you’re missing the point of being transgender.

the goal is not to claim that they were born a different gender. that would be delusional, and transgender people can be totally rational.

the point is simply to live as their preferred gender, and ideally be accepted as such.

when they live as their preferred gender, they are able to feel happy and content, just like everyone else. it’s not that difficult to consider how miserable we would feel if people misgendered us. it’s a common insult.

treating everyone as the gender they prefer is a simple act of kindness. you can choose to be an asshole about it, but you’re not standing up for the truth, you’re just choosing to be an asshole.

gender dysmorphia is the illness, and transitioning is the cure.

Subspace (now known as Continuum) circa 1998 via 56k modem - mine repping a 2k+ bounty 5-person turret in Chaos Zone West

Such adrenaline and joy 😂

With an optimum design, bipedal robots are likely more power efficient. Read up on the efficiency of the human gait to understand why.

In practice though, it’s really challenging to get an optimum design (the current state of the art is not even close), so polypeds are better from a practicality standpoint.

1800 hours in Noita. Just last week started what’s become a perfect god run (circle of vigor and transmuted all polymorphing liquids) to get the golden necklace and consider it beaten.

Really funny that this game isn’t even on anyone else’s list. I guess I really am special, haha

A great auto-battler released just this year named The Gnorp Apologue!

Your role is relatively passive, but a little time investment is required for progress.

It’s really just the DMCA.

This kind of faultless takedown shouldn’t be legal, but the DMCA carved it out decades ago.

Russians will be granted amnesty because of their willingness to accept our deportations into their labor camps.

I use various models on a daily basis (as a software/infrastructure developer), and can say that the reason they are able to sell AI is that it’s really useful.

Like any tool, you have to work with its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s very much a matter of “shit in, shit out.”

For example, it can easily get confused with complicated requests, so they must be narrowly focused. Breaking large problems down into smaller ones is a normal part of problem solving, so this doesn’t detract from its utility.

Also, it sometimes just makes shit up, so it’s absolutely necessary to thoroughly test everything it outputs. Test-driven development has been around for a long time, so that’s not really a problem either.

It’s more of a booksmart intern assistant than a professional software engineer, but used in this way it’s a great productivity booster.

noita

I’m closing in on 2000 hours, and it’s such a great game if you like challenges and discovery.

I started playing it after one of the devs said, “I don’t think anyone will ever make another game like it.”

It’s a terrific implementation of a very pure concept.

I really hope that, despite the development challenge it may present, “noitalike” becomes a thing.

I think it’s an engine that would integrate really well with ML world/asset generation, too.

Programmers don’t have the luxury of using inferior toolsets.

but for how long?