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Joshua_Blaine comments on The idiot savant AI isn't an idiot - Less Wrong Discussion

8 Post author: Stuart_Armstrong 18 July 2013 03:43PM

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Comment author: Joshua_Blaine 18 July 2013 07:07:46PM 2 points [-]

Hm. If this idea of intelligence seems valuable to you and worth pursuing, I absolutely implore that you wade through the reductionism sequence while or before you develop it more fully. I think it'd be an excellent resource for figuring out exactly what you mean to mean. (and the very similar Human's guide to words)

Comment author: Lumifer 18 July 2013 07:20:31PM 0 points [-]

Hm. I know of this sequence, though I haven't gone through it yet. We'll see.

On the other hand, I tend to be pretty content as an agnostic with respect to things "without testable consequences" :-)

Comment author: Joshua_Blaine 18 July 2013 08:35:39PM *  0 points [-]

Ah, that's why I think reductionism would be very useful for you. Everything can be broken down and understood in such a way that nothing remains that doesn't represent testable consequences. definitely read How an Algorithm Feels As the following quote represents what you may be thinking when you wonder if something is really intelligent.

Now suppose that you have an object that is blue and egg-shaped and contains palladium; and you have already observed that it is furred, flexible, opaque, and glows in the dark. [all the characteristics implied by the label "blegg"]

This answers every query, observes every observable introduced. There's nothing left for a disguised query to stand for.

So why might someone feel an impulse to go on arguing whether the object is really a blegg [is truly intelligent]?

[brackets] are my additions.

Comment author: Lumifer 18 July 2013 08:48:26PM 0 points [-]

Oh, sure, but the real question is what are all the characteristics implied by the label "intelligent".

The correctness of a definition is decided by the purpose of that definition. Before we can argue what's the proper meaning of the word "intelligent" we need to decide what do we need that meaning for.

For example, "We need to decide whether that AI is intelligent enough to just let it loose exploring this planet" implies a different definition of "intelligent" compared to, say, "We need to decide whether that AI is intelligent enough to be trusted with a laser cutter".

Comment author: Joshua_Blaine 18 July 2013 10:01:40PM 1 point [-]

For example, "We need to decide whether that AI is intelligent enough to just let it loose exploring this planet" implies a different definition of "intelligent" compared to, say, "We need to decide whether that AI is intelligent enough to be trusted with a laser cutter".

Those sound more like safety concerns than inquiries involving intelligence. Being clever and able to get things done doesn't automatically make something share enough of your values to be friendly and useful.

Better questions would be "We need to decide whether that AI is intelligent enough to effectively research and come to conclusions about the world if we let it explore without restrictions" or "We need to decide if the AI is intelligent enough to correctly use a laser cutter".

Although, given large power (i.e. a laser cutter) and low intelligence, it might not achieve even its explicate goal correctly, and may accidentally do something bad. (i.e. laser cut a person)

one attribute of intelligence is the likelihood of said AI producing bad results non-purposefully. The more it does, the less intelligent it is.

Comment author: Lumifer 19 July 2013 07:12:37PM 2 points [-]

one attribute of intelligence is the likelihood of said AI producing bad results non-purposefully.

Nah, that's an attribute of complexity and/or competence.

My calculator has a very very low likelihood of producing bad results non-purposefully. That is not an argument that my calculator is intelligent.