[ExI] GPT-4 on its inability to solve the symbol grounding problem

[Gordon Swobe]

On Sat, Apr 8, 2023 at 11:51 AM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
> I keep showing this image, attempting to communicate something:
>
> [image: 3_functionally_equal_machines_tiny.png]
> Sure, our elementary school teacher told us the one on the left is red,
> the one in the middle is green, and the one on the right is just the word
> 'Red'.
>
> But it is evident from all these conversations, that nobody here
> understands the deeper meaning I'm attempting to communicate.
> Some people seem to be getting close, which is nice, but they may not yet
> be fully there.
> If everyone fully understood this, all these conversations would be
> radically different.
> Even if you disagree with me, can anyone describe the deeper meaning I'm
> attempting to communicate with this image?
> What does this image say about qualities, different ways of representing
> information, and different ways of doing computation?
>
> How about this, I'll give $100 worth of Ether, or just USD, to anyone who
> can fully describe the meaning attempting to be portrayed with this image.
>


> What does this image say about qualities, different ways of representing
information, and different ways of doing computation?

In terms I've been using here, you're showing us that the symbol "red"
corresponds to an experience of red (the referent) and can be represented
symbolically in code as the symbol "red", but that the symbol is not the
referent and so the computer cannot know what the symbol "red" means
in terms of experience. For all it knows, the symbol "red" represents the
experience or quale of green.

-gts
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