Note that inner monologue can be non-verbal—mine often contains abstract pictorial/visual components. For deaf/mute people it likely develops visually.
Empirically, people seem to have an enormous amount of difficulty expressing many parts of their internal cognition verbally. So no, a lot of it doesn’t even seem to be summarizable, at least given a typical human’s facility with natural language.
I guess I may be unusual in this regard then. But naturally the type of brain-like AGI I tend to think of is likely biased towards my own particular cognition and self-understanding thereof—and perhaps this is also true for you.
Regardless: even if 20% of humanity had no inner monologue or 50%, or 99%, it simply wouldn’t matter at all to my larger point: I need only a few examples of high functioning intelligent humans with inner monologues to demonstrate that having an inner monologue is clearly not an efficiency disadvantage! This is a low cost safety feature.
Finally, I’l conclude with that Hellen Keller quote:
“Before my teacher came to me, I did not know that I am. I lived in a world that was a no-world. I cannot hope to describe adequately that unconscious, yet conscious time of nothingness. I did not know that I knew aught, or that I lived or acted or desired. I had neither will nor intellect. I was carried along to objects and acts by a certain blind natural impetus. I had a mind which caused me to feel anger, satisfaction, desire… ”
I need only a few examples of high functioning intelligent humans with inner monologues to demonstrate that having an inner monologue is clearly not an efficiency disadvantage!
Note that inner monologue can be non-verbal—mine often contains abstract pictorial/visual components. For deaf/mute people it likely develops visually.
I guess I may be unusual in this regard then. But naturally the type of brain-like AGI I tend to think of is likely biased towards my own particular cognition and self-understanding thereof—and perhaps this is also true for you.
Regardless: even if 20% of humanity had no inner monologue or 50%, or 99%, it simply wouldn’t matter at all to my larger point: I need only a few examples of high functioning intelligent humans with inner monologues to demonstrate that having an inner monologue is clearly not an efficiency disadvantage! This is a low cost safety feature.
Finally, I’l conclude with that Hellen Keller quote:
“Before my teacher came to me, I did not know that I am. I lived in a world that was a no-world. I cannot hope to describe adequately that unconscious, yet conscious time of nothingness. I did not know that I knew aught, or that I lived or acted or desired. I had neither will nor intellect. I was carried along to objects and acts by a certain blind natural impetus. I had a mind which caused me to feel anger, satisfaction, desire… ”
That argument I buy.