"Perversely, some machine learning enthusiasts seem to be proud that their creations can generate correct “scientific” predictions (...) without making use of explanations (...). But this kind of prediction, even when successful, is pseudoscience. While scientists certainly seek theories that have a high degree of empirical corroboration, as the philosopher Karl Popper noted, “we do not seek highly probable theories but explanations; that is to say, powerful and highly improbable theories.”"
"ChatGPT exhibits something like the banality of evil: plagiarism and apathy and obviation. It summarizes the standard arguments in the literature by a kind of super-autocomplete, refuses to take a stand on anything, pleads not merely ignorance but lack of intelligence and ultimately offers a “just following orders” defense, shifting responsibility to its creators."
Leaving the topic of AI, and touching more generally on this related topic of 'banality of evil' identified by Hannah Arendt — this loathsome 'non-thinking reason' (raison non-pensante) —, here's a highly recommended read:
Disobey! by Frédéric Gros 💖 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52504847-disobey
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