Vishal Misra is a professor at Columbia University and co-founder of Cricinfo, a collaborative website for cricket fans. His latest development is a search tool using GPT-3, a natural language processing system that enables users to search the platform with conversational queries. GPT-4 has been released by OpenAI and is the latest version of such natural language processing systems.
ChatGPT and other bots are starting conversations around what it means to have artificial general intelligence, or AGI. While algorithms can solve equations, draw diagrams, and analyze data, they can also stumble when asked to answer simple questions. Scientists are skeptical that these systems can ever truly surpass human intelligence, noting that machines lack the ability to truly understand the complexity of human thought and behavior.
Microsoft Research, together with OpenAI, released a paper discussing GPT-4 and its capabilities. The paper suggests that GPT-4 represents still early stages of artificial general intelligence, while at the same time noting its shortcomings – failing to succeed at all human labor, and lacking any inner desires.
Noah Smith, a professor and researcher at the Allen Institute for AI, is skeptical of this type of thinking, noting that there is “an assumption there when you use that word”, and that the notion of human consciousness does not involve machine learning at all.
When it comes to AI and similar systems, it is essential to be aware of the differences between human intelligence and machine intelligence. While chatbots and algorithms are capable of impressive feats, humans are still firmly in the lead. It is important to recognize AI for its capabilities, but also to remain skeptical and critical of the most ambitious claims.
