The more I think about what Chatbots are and what they aren’t, the more I think of them, not so much as a stochastic parrot, but as a tool that we’re trying to use for the wrong purpose. There are some discrete tasks, in particular fields that Chatbots can help with (summarization, coding, some well understood math problems) but there are others where they can’t.
The limit is because of what they are, not what they “do”. At least what they “are” at the present.
This quote from Mark Graves is a good explanation of what I’m thinking:
“In summary, generative AI challenges and expands our understanding of creativity. It meets many criteria for creativity defined in psychology and philosophy: it generates novel and valuable products, engages in combinatorial and exploratory processes, and reflects a responsive press shaped by human culture. Yet theological understandings may demand more. From a substantive perspective of *imago Dei*, GenAI may mimic human intellect but may lack what characterizes the divine image. Functionally, AI could become a tool or even a partner in stewarding creation—if we govern its development wisely. Relationally, the important question is whether our use of AI fosters deeper communion with God, each other, and creation. Whether AI can become a “co-co-creator” remains undetermined, but we remain responsible for what we create and how we use it. Theology must guide us in evaluating and shaping AI’s creativity for flourishing, justice, and communion.”
(Mark Graves June 6, Theological Frontiers for AI Creativity)
GenAI’s harm to creation (its impact on the environment via energy and water usage and, as we are seeing more and more, its impact on its users—as you’ve discussed lately in multiple posts regarding people dealing with psychosis and similar struggles after getting too entangled with LLMs) feels at odds to me with any ability for it to be a tool to steward creation. I really struggle to see how to bypass this to see it as a fruitful tool.
If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to see it, does it happen?
The very question of agency requires an assumption of value, but that subjective act is not relevant to AI especially when the system is turned off. AI has no relevance for our galaxy or any other. Its importance belongs only to us, and we are the givers of value.
What therefore shall we become or devolve back to? AI is another bite out of the apple, and we cannot ever put it back. “And Adam said, I hid myself because I was naked. And God said,”Who told you that you were naked?” At this moment in our development I see we are back at that pivotal moment again. The most important thing AI might have to offer us is that self knowledge, our nakedness for which AI cannot take responibility.