Remember when the PlayStation 2 was "technically a supercomputer" and taking LSD a certain number of times made you insane? Great moments in marketing history
Register readers with very long memories indeed will recall similar concerns being raised over Sir Clive Sinclair's ZX-81. The fear then was that the sneaky Sovs would try to buy heaps of ZX-81s for their Zilog Z80-A CPUs and might 1KB RAM to upgrade their nuclear missile guidance systems.
I would say that this take was correct, just not in the way the detractors at the time intended. The danger was to the usefulness of the internet.
I have yet to see any benefit to society from GPT's improvements, but I do see the internet quickly becoming more and more unusable due to the inundation of machine-generated spam on nearly every communications platform.
In the most "doomer" possible view of my beliefs, yes, that'd be an accurate description.
I don't know if that will actually come true, of course - human society is pretty resilient in the face of its own self-caused adversity, but currently it does already extract a significant mental and emotional cost dealing with filtering out the "human mimics" on many platforms - especially search engines.
Reminds me a bit of Genetic Programming as proposed by John Holland, John Koza, etc. Ever since GPT came out, I've been thinking of ways to combine that original idea with LLMs in some way that would accelerate the process with a more "intelligent" selection.
The paper explores the connection between two mathematical models used to study biological systems: Boolean networks and Petri nets.
Boolean networks model gene regulation and other biological processes using logical functions. The long-term behavior of these models, represented by "attractors", corresponds to observable biological states. Recently, a concept called "trap spaces" has made analyzing larger Boolean network models feasible. However, computing trap spaces relies on finding prime implicants of the logical functions, which gets harder as models get bigger and more complex.
(A prime implicant is a minimal set of conditions that ensures a Boolean function will be true. )
Petri nets are another type of model using places, transitions between places, and tokens to represent the state of a system. A key concept in Petri nets is a "siphon" - a set of places that once empty of tokens, remains empty.
The authors prove for the first time that there is an equivalence between trap spaces in a Boolean network and "conflict-free siphons" in the corresponding Petri net representation.
This connection allows properties of trap spaces to be studied using Petri net theory. It also enables a new approach to compute trap spaces by finding siphons in the Petri net, avoiding the hard prime implicant computation.
In practical terms, this pushes the boundaries of the size and complexity of biological systems that can be effectively modeled and studied using this approach.
The low-level thing that isn't understood is that intelligence is not progressive. You can not build up to it. Sure, you can forever continue to build better and better approximations of certain aspects of intelligence and pretend you're making progress, but you are not. Of course, there is great utilitarian value in those approximations, so we MUST continue to do this.
Still, my position is that NO progress has ever been made in the area of AI, and no progress will be made any time soon.
I'll take it a step further (in case I don't get enough downvotes for what I've written so far). I maintain that you CAN NOT build intelligence. You can only TAP INTO it. So the very direction in which all of our AI efforts are headed is a dead-end.
> I maintain that you CAN NOT build intelligence. You can only TAP INTO it.
I wouldn't go exactly this far, but I would say that whatever process might exist to create artificial intelligence, it might be closer to gardening than to engineering.
My vague feeling is that there might be some sort of (non-supernatural) "mysterious" component to intelligence that we won't be able to engineer and that might just emerge under the right circumstances.
In that case we would just have to "grow" AI, without being completely sure that our effort will work.
I agree. We need to stop this over use, actually the use of AI as some grounded in science matter of fact. What we have is ML, and thus a system for algorithmic refinement and definition.
The real question here is, how far are Russian soldiers willing to go to protect their pride? At what point do you wake up and realize that you're killing people for no reason other than to appease a tyrant?
"Yesterday the conscripts, who were forced to sign a contract or signed for them, were withdrawn from the war zone in #Ukraine. But from a company of a hundred men only four were left alive."
> 1. Nobody actually believes the numbers of Russians killed coming out of Kyiv, these are for morale purposes.
That was true at first but has increasingly been changing as NATO sources have been reporting numbers closer to the Ukranian reports. That's not saying it's 100% reliable but it suggests the numbers are closer to what Ukraine is reporting rather than what Russia is reporting.
> 2. Thousands of US soldiers were killed in the Iraqi invasion & occupation.
This is true, and it turned public opinion against both wars. Now consider what the impact is of having that happen in a week — if the U.S. figures are right, much less the Ukranian, they are rapidly closing on the _total_ number of casualties from their decade-long invasion of Afghanistan in just the current month and all signs point to a long, bitter occupation anywhere they do capture.
> 1. Nobody actually believes the numbers of Russians killed coming out of Kyiv, these are for morale purposes.
All the open source intel analysis I've seen suggests otherwise. Individual battle claims are greatly exaggerated but the overall casualty counts of ~10,000 seems accurate. Hospitals in crimean cities are reportedly overflowing with thousands of wounded soldiers. Vehicles and equipment losses are undeniably staggering. Aircraft losses seem to be confirmed as well, with multiple copters and planes being lost, per day. The convoy north of kyiv is almost certain to draw heavy losses without food, fuel, or shelter from the cold.
There is some difference between losing thousands of soldiers in ten years, and in ten days. Though admittedly life has always been cheap-ish in Russia so maybe that won’t matter.
During the invasion? No. During the occupation and was over several years. Russians have lost thousands in one WEEK. The shock value there is a lot higher.
Of course not, I'm not some authoritarian totalist. It was a small piece of land not critical to Ukraine as a whole. I don't think it was the right move for Ukraine to make.
That would be weird if it happened but from what I understand what you're saying isn't accurate. A lot of people were leaving the area rather than entering.
I absolutely would! But hen I'm one of the few people that never really considered Afghan or Iraqi resistance against US and / or NATO forces to be "evil".
Understanding, e.g., Putin's motivation doesn't mean defending him.
Let's get something straight dude... Western politicians are not dumb for realising "Russia bad" over the past 4 yrs. They are dumb for NOT realising it 100 f'in years ago! Russia has been THE major exporter of evil in the world for over a century now and people are just now waking up, as if the entire RU shit-show over the past week has been utterly shocking and unexpected. Spare me.
The Cold War, which was kind of a big deal, was 100% about Western citizens and politicians understanding and trying to counter the threat of Russia. Under Trump the US Republican Party pivoted from being the staunchly anti-Russian force it had been for more than 50 years to suddenly becoming an appallingly pro-Russian entity. As problematic as that shift was, it's extremely recent on the 100 year timescale you're discussing.
Here's my take on this, which you are not going to like one bit. It goes like this...
The good people of Russia - and I'm not saying this with a tongue in cheek - the vast majority of the people of Russia truly are GOOD people, in the simplest, most sincere sense of the word... But they do need to go through some things.
You just don't get to support a murderous communist regime for 100 years and then say "but we had nothing to do with it". I'm sorry, but you had everything to do with it.
You clearly have no idea what it's like to live under a dictatorship.
Well I do sir, I lived under the Islamic Republic of Iran for half my life.
If you think people can just "rise up", protest and overthrow the government, then you are clueless. Dictators will not hesitate to fire live rounds at their own people, they will torture and imprison everyone, cut all communication from outside and spew propaganda 24/7 to keep people in the dark.
Further, you don't even need to look far in history to see what happens if people do indeed "rise up", it happened in Syria [0] with the Arab spring and the civil war has been going on for over a decade now. It has basically turned the country into dust and it has been made inhabitable, if you don't believe me checkout "For Sama" [1]
So no, I don't blame the ordinary Russian civilians. My prayers go out to the people of Ukraine AND Russia right now.
You probably are from some eastern european country and now are just happy to spit poison at us. The amount of devastation bolsheviks caused in 20-30s, two insane wars, complete cultural destruction, what else should people go through?
Exactly. But this is because many Russians don't understand the concept of agency when it comes to nations. Plus, they think their motherland is the best place on earth. This even applies to the highly-educated individuals e.g. during the war in Donbas in 2014, I had some Russian-born expats coworkers who were genuinely convinced that a) both NATO and EU enlargements in Eastern Europe were CIA's ploys, against "common people will" and b) Russia had nothing to do with that war, it was just people rioting against Ukraine's pro-western politics.
Oh, please, let's not start blaming most Russians.
These sanctions are about ruining the Russian war machine, as well as demonstrating to other authoritarian governments tempted by imperialism that attacking democracies is a bad idea. Individual Russians (with the exception of oligarchs) are collateral damage. And despite the fact that Russians are (probably) going to suffer deeply for it, it's (probably) the right way to do it, because any other strategy (that I can think of) involves either nuclear bombs falling sooner or later.
Of course, if Russians somehow manage to reinstate democracy in their country, that will be the best outcome. But don't count on it, revolutions are hard and deadly.
> Oh, please, let's not start blaming most Russians.
Any regime can only stay in power as long as it has the support, active or passive, of a majority of its people. (That's why the German people was held collectively responsible for having abided the Nazi regime, and had to go through collective de-Nazification after WW2.) The fact that, with the exception of short periods of anarchy (most recently: the 1990s), Russia has had authoritarian-to-dictatorial regimes since... Well, since about forever, means that the Russian people has been condoning authoritarian-to-dictatorial regimes since about forever.
High time for a change in that, isn't it? And whom should that be up to... If not the Russian people?
> if Russians somehow manage to reinstate democracy in their country
I think you mean instate democracy, without the re-.
Sure, they may have, from their viewpoint, valid reasons not to do anything about it. And sure, I couldn't swear that I would do any better in their situation. But: So what? Still doesn't mean it's not their fault, just like it would be mine in the same situation. The two are not logically related.
I don't entirely disagree but I think a slightly better framing is: It's not their fault, but it is their responsibility. Putin is a problem for the world, and it's a problem that can only be properly solved by the Russian people. Unfortunately, that means whether they deserve it or not, they are the group to whom pressure needs to be applied.
I am a Russian citizen. How it is my responsibility? I never supported Putin and hate him as much as anyone. They destroyed Moscow over the last 20 years, gave up on Russians left in former ex-USSR countries, created a separate society of asian immigrants, muted all opposition. How am I responsible? Should I buy a tank of gazoline and go burn Kremlin? Then what? Is every european responsible for not stopping NATO in the middle east? What pressure should be applied to some Dutch for that?
> How am I responsible? Should I buy a tank of gazoline and go burn Kremlin?
Honestly, yes. If that's what it takes. You're responsible not because it's your fault, but because you (collectively) are the ones in a position to do something about it.
Were German people responsible for Nazis? Russians have been figting Nazis so fiercly during the World War 2 and it is so ironic that they have a Nazis in Kremlin now.. with many supporting them or just doing nothing about it.
He might mean that since you live there, you have better chances to do something about Putin, than people outside. And you might know more about what makes sense or not.
Just as if you're inside a house burning down, you're in a better position to do something about it (say, saving a kid who had hid in a closet), that someone far away.
And if you're still "but, but, butt-ing" about this, I'd like to add one more thing.
It is not Putin driving the tanks. It isn't him shelling hospitals and nurseries. It isn't him giving commands to troops. It isn't him spewing brain-dead propaganda in RU media 24/7 for decades.
I really honestly don't want to hear any "but"s from "the people".
You reap what you sow.
So you're scared? You say "if I don't go kill innocent people, Putin will kill me". And what's the choice you make? You go kill innocent people.
Enough with the buts.
Nothing but humble pie for the people of Russia over the next 100 years. Make Germans feel like they got away with it easy.
> You just don't get to support a murderous communist regime for 100 years and then say "but we had nothing to do with it".
If that argument holds (which I'm not saying it doesn't), then how much more responsible are we who have democracy and tell everyone else how great it is we have a say in how our government operates. Surely, we then hold even more of the blame on issues such as the WMD fiasco. Ironically, ask any one of us about these issues and suddenly its, we have no control over the government, and other endless excuses.
> then how much more responsible are we who have democracy
We who have democracy are very responsible for how our Government behaves.
> Surely, we then hold even more of the blame on issues such as the WMD fiasco.
Yes. The average US citizen bears responsibility for the lies of our government that lead to decades of warfare.
I was in high school at the time, strongly opposed Bush, and strongly opposed the war in Iraq. Even so, I bear some of the responsibility for my government's actions.
Who says they supported it? What can "the people" do if elections are fraudulent, constitutions are changed, and any protests are beaten down by police? How many people have been arrested and disappeared for protesting against the invasion?
I mean, even in the US protesters managed to break into Congress, some with the intent to kill. If they were armed things would look very different now. What would have happened if Trump - who looks up to Putin - did things like declare martial law or change the constitution? It would have been possible; he put a new supreme judge in place, and 'his' party held a majority in the various houses. But that assumes a democratic process; if he had more cronies, he wouldn't need to follow a democratic process to become a dictator, only the pretense thereof.
The Russian people really can impact change in their country and now is the best time. They just need to find a way to be united about stopping Putin.
Many more Russians will likely die, but sadly that’s always been the cost of building a democracy. I would have much rather preferred a world that wasn’t so brutal to achieve something so critical.
> You just don't get to support a murderous communist regime for 100 years and then say "but we had nothing to do with it". I'm sorry, but you had everything to do with it.
This is easy to say when you have the privilege of living in a rich/developed country with free access to information and where you can increasingly voice your opinion without risking imprisonment or worst. Most people, especially in developing countries, are struggling to make ends meet and don't have time for ideology. The one that are very ideologically opposed and have done something about it have already sought asylum abroad.
The same argument can be made about America's multi century history of slavery, and only in recent decades have taken shape. People will wait for 50 acres and a mule in perpetuity
> Most people, especially in developing countries, are struggling to make ends meet and don't have time for ideology.
Most people in developing countries also do not have a lunatic with their finger on nuclear button. Russia currently does. If people don't see the need for ideology right now then we're all properly fucked, not matter on which side of the border you live. This time it's not like all the other times.
> If people don't see the need for ideology right now then we're all properly fucked
I believe we need to opposite. Cold hearted real politics going for deescalation. Screw right and wrong and ideology. There is way too much emotions now and I am getting scared for real ...
"You just don't get to support a murderous communist regime for 100 years and then say "but we had nothing to do with it"."
The soviet regime is long gone, but with reference to the current regime.
It's been put there and supported by the West. In the shock treatment of the economy, the giving away of the state to an oligarchy and to contracts to western companies, the US and CIA support of Yeltsin up to and including fixing an election against the communists, the support for Putin's first election, the turning a blind eye to what was happening in Chechnya and then Georgia, the expansion of NATO against all advice that it would create and embolden nationalist chauvinistic leadership, the encouragement and protection of the oligarchy class in western countries, the addiction to fossil fuel.
If you make a distinction between soviet regime and current regime, I'm sorry, but I can't spend another second reading further into any other noise coming out of your keyboard.
There was a civil war in Russia. The Bolshevism won being a minority because they got support from Germany Government in a critical weakness situation of World War.
I bet you can't even understand that from a privileged position on the West, fell fed and well rested.
I have been in Africa helping kids that eat once a day and they are so weak they can't think clearly for long. The same happened in Russia when people almost starved under the civil war and later with the disastrous Lenin politics. Only Lenin people had enough food, stolen from the people, most people were hungry.
Lenin killed 300.000 Russian peasants and 5 million people starved. Russian people were the main victims of communism. Even the navy revolted against Lenin and he was forced to do NEP. With Stalin it got worse.
And small owners of land, specially in Ukraine were exterminated. Anyone that was better at something(kulaks) was exterminated. Any social institution like Church was destroyed.
Given the right circumstances this could happen too in America.
And who condoned that all; who actually put Lenin in power (and spare us the "Germany Government" crap), and then did not put neither him nor his equally-or-more dictatorial successors out of it again after they noticed that the results were shit?
The Russian people, that's who. Any regime that is tolerated by its people is always and everywhere the responsibility of that people. Whose the Hell else could it even be?!?
And this is so fucking self-evident that even trying to argue against it seems a surefire sign of advanced lunacy.
