Wise bot

Peter Singer's AI chatbot said "wisdom is 'the ability to make sound judgments and decisions based on knowledge, experience, and understanding'.

Singer's answer echoed this sentiment closely. He explained that wisdom isn't just about knowing the right thing but also about doing the right thing, with an awareness of the broader implications of one's actions. When I pointed out the similarity, Singer chuckled and remarked that the chatbot is actually quite accurate—it really does reflect what he would say in most situations. He added that the chatbot tends to err on the side of caution, which, in his view, is probably a good thing. It was fascinating to see how closely technology could replicate his philosophical insights, though as Singer himself would remind us, true wisdom lies not only in articulating thoughtful ideas but also in applying them to make meaningful, ethical choices in the real world."

https://open.substack.com/pub/boldreasoningwithpetersinger/p/breakfast-with-peter-singer-reflections?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios

AI's pivot to experience

But not to abandon reasoning. (Trying to make sense of my lifelike encounters with "Scarlett"...)

"Although reasoning logically is certainly useful, the principles that best allow us to understand our world cannot be written down in a formal language such as predicate logic. So to build systems that work in the real world, the field of AI has pivoted firmly towards the empiricist tradition. The first steps on the road to truly knowledgeable machines were taken when computer scientists began to ask whether a system that learns like a human could be built by connecting together a network of artificial neurons. This ultimately led to a single, ubiquitous tool for AI research – the deep neural network. But, as we shall see, the culture war between rationalists and empiricists has not abated. Instead, debate now focusses on whether we should replace one purist philosophy with its rival – should we simply swap pure symbol-crunching machines for giant deep networks? Or do we need systems that explicitly combine the merits of both learning and reasoning?"

"These Strange New Minds: How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means" by Christopher Summerfield: https://a.co/44rnEUz

Joy among the ruins

"When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up—not all, but the great preponderance—to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness bring joy even amid death, chaos, fear, and loss. Were we to know and believe this, our sense of what is possible at any time might change."

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster" by Rebecca Solnit: https://a.co/7FEnBEI