this post was submitted on 30 May 2025
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

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[–] nightsky@awful.systems 27 points 4 days ago (10 children)

From McCarthy's reply:

My current answer to the question of when machines will reach human-level intelligence is that a precise calculation shows that we are between 1.7 and 3.1 Einsteins and .3 Manhattan Projects away from the goal.

omg this statement sounds 100% like something that could be posted today by Sam Altman on X. It's hititing exactly the sweet spot between appearing precise but also super vague, like Altman's "a few thousand days".

[–] gedhrel@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (6 children)

It's sarcasm. The question asks for unwarranted precision and the response is a joke.

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 11 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Imagining a guy who asks me a dumb question so I can let everyone know how I'd mock them with a joke answer.

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] gedhrel@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Spot on, yeah. Although as pointed out just above, this wasn't actually Weizenbaum's position. But in an era of letters to the editor, perhaps using a little rhetorical trickery to preempt a two-month-long back and forth might be excusable. It's a strawman nonetheless; but this letter is a screed.

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