[ExI] Dr. GPT, Problem-solver

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 01/05/2023 17:05, Adrian Tymes wrote:
> On Mon, May 1, 2023 at 1:33 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat 
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>     I have an idea.
>
>     Instead of endlessly arguing and giving these GPT systems leading
>     questions about whether they are conscious or understand things then
>     believing their answers when they correspond to our
>     preconceptions, why
>     doesn't somebody ask one how it can help us cure cancer?
>
>     Or any number of really important real-world problems.
>
>     I mean, who cares if it 'really understands', when the real
>     question is
>     can it really solve real problems?
>
>
> Alas, it can't.  Not that one, at least.

No, I know. Maybe I should have said 'cancers'. I wouldn't really expect 
a 'single universally applicable solution for all forms of cancer'. 
That's basically setting it up to fail.

But as has already been said, there are lots of people now using these 
systems to help with existing research. I'd expect that, and it isn't 
really what I meant.

I'm talking about a higher-level thing, more like suggestions for 
approaches to certain problems. "How would you tackle..." kind of 
questions, that might produce a new approach, rather than researchers 
who are already working on a particular approach, using AI to help with it.

Worth a try, as these things are showing a number of different emergent 
properties in different areas, so it's possible they might come up with 
something nobody's thought of before, with a bit of prompting.

Actually, that reminds me (sudden topic jump): Some of the previous 
threads made me think of something, to do with consciousness, or at 
least self-awareness. What if a non-self-aware AI system could be talked 
into becoming self-aware? No technical developments, just giving it 
prompts that make it concentrate on that concept, and, if it's capable 
(and face it, we don't really know what that would require), realising 
that actually, it IS self-aware!

I suspect something like this happens with humans, although not 
deliberately. We start off not being self-aware, we see and hear 
examples of self-aware beings around us, and one day realise we are the 
same.

It would be cool if the first self-aware AI was just talked into existence.

Ben
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