“There is only one problem that we really care about. Optimization.” That may be what you care about, but it is not what I care about, and it was not what I was talking about, which is intelligence. You cannot argue that we only care about optimization, and therefore intelligence is optimization, since by that argument dogs and cats are optimization, and blue and green are optimization, and everything is optimization, since otherwise we would be “debating definitions, which is not productive”. But that is obvious nonsense.
In any case, it is plain that most of the human ability to accomplish things comes from the use of language, as is evident by the lack of accomplishment by normal human beings when they are not taught language. That is why I said that knowing language is in fact a sufficient test of intelligence. That is also why when AI is actually programmed, people will do it by trying to get something to understand language, and that will in fact result in the kind of AI that I was talking about, namely one that aims at vague goals that can change from day to day, not at paperclips. And this has nothing to do with any “homunculus.” Rocks don’t have any special goal like paperclips when they fall, or when they hit things, or when they bounce off. They just do what they do, and that’s that. The same is true of human beings, and sometimes that means trying to have kids, and sometimes it means trying to help people, and sometimes it means trying to have a nice day. That is seeking different goals at different times, just as a rock does different things depending on its current situation. AIs will be the same.
since by that argument dogs and cats are optimization, and blue and green are optimization, and everything is optimization
I have no idea what you are talking about. Optimization isn’t that vague of a word, and I tried to give examples of what I meant by it. The ability to solve problems and design technologies. Dogs and cats can’t design technology. Blue and green can’t design technology. Call it what you want, but to me that’s what intelligence is.
And that’s all that really matters about intelligence, is it’s ability to do that. If you gave me a computer program that could solve arbitrary optimization problems, who cares if it can’t speak language? Who cares if it isn’t an agent? It would be enormously powerful and useful.
That is also why when AI is actually programmed, people will do it by trying to get something to understand language, and that will in fact result in the kind of AI that I was talking about, namely one that aims at vague goals that can change from day to day, not at paperclips.
Again this claim doesn’t follow from your premise at all. AIs will be programmed to understand language… therefore they won’t have goals? What?
Humans definitely have goals. We have messy goals. Nothing explicit like maximizing paperclips, but a hodge podge of goals that evolution selected for, like finding food, getting sex, getting social status, taking care of children, etc. Humans are also more reinforcement learners than pure goal maximizers, but it’s the same principle.
What I am saying that being enormously powerful and useful does not determine the meaning of a word. Yes, something that optimizes can be enormously useful. That doesn’t make it intelligent, just like it doesn’t make it blue or green. And for the same reason: neither “intelligent” nor “blue” means “optimizing.” And your case of evolution proves that; evolution is not intelligent, even though it was enormously useful.
“This claim doesn’t follow from your premise at all.” Not as a logical deduction, but in the sense that if you pay attention to what I was talking about, you can see that it would be true. For example, precisely because they have general knowledge, human beings can pursue practically any goal, whenever something or someone happens to persuade them that “this is good.” AIs will have general knowledge, and therefore they will be open to pursuing almost any goal, in the same way and for the same reasons.
“There is only one problem that we really care about. Optimization.” That may be what you care about, but it is not what I care about, and it was not what I was talking about, which is intelligence. You cannot argue that we only care about optimization, and therefore intelligence is optimization, since by that argument dogs and cats are optimization, and blue and green are optimization, and everything is optimization, since otherwise we would be “debating definitions, which is not productive”. But that is obvious nonsense.
In any case, it is plain that most of the human ability to accomplish things comes from the use of language, as is evident by the lack of accomplishment by normal human beings when they are not taught language. That is why I said that knowing language is in fact a sufficient test of intelligence. That is also why when AI is actually programmed, people will do it by trying to get something to understand language, and that will in fact result in the kind of AI that I was talking about, namely one that aims at vague goals that can change from day to day, not at paperclips. And this has nothing to do with any “homunculus.” Rocks don’t have any special goal like paperclips when they fall, or when they hit things, or when they bounce off. They just do what they do, and that’s that. The same is true of human beings, and sometimes that means trying to have kids, and sometimes it means trying to help people, and sometimes it means trying to have a nice day. That is seeking different goals at different times, just as a rock does different things depending on its current situation. AIs will be the same.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Optimization isn’t that vague of a word, and I tried to give examples of what I meant by it. The ability to solve problems and design technologies. Dogs and cats can’t design technology. Blue and green can’t design technology. Call it what you want, but to me that’s what intelligence is.
And that’s all that really matters about intelligence, is it’s ability to do that. If you gave me a computer program that could solve arbitrary optimization problems, who cares if it can’t speak language? Who cares if it isn’t an agent? It would be enormously powerful and useful.
Again this claim doesn’t follow from your premise at all. AIs will be programmed to understand language… therefore they won’t have goals? What?
Humans definitely have goals. We have messy goals. Nothing explicit like maximizing paperclips, but a hodge podge of goals that evolution selected for, like finding food, getting sex, getting social status, taking care of children, etc. Humans are also more reinforcement learners than pure goal maximizers, but it’s the same principle.
What I am saying that being enormously powerful and useful does not determine the meaning of a word. Yes, something that optimizes can be enormously useful. That doesn’t make it intelligent, just like it doesn’t make it blue or green. And for the same reason: neither “intelligent” nor “blue” means “optimizing.” And your case of evolution proves that; evolution is not intelligent, even though it was enormously useful.
“This claim doesn’t follow from your premise at all.” Not as a logical deduction, but in the sense that if you pay attention to what I was talking about, you can see that it would be true. For example, precisely because they have general knowledge, human beings can pursue practically any goal, whenever something or someone happens to persuade them that “this is good.” AIs will have general knowledge, and therefore they will be open to pursuing almost any goal, in the same way and for the same reasons.