locallynonlinear

joined 1 year ago
[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 5 points 10 months ago

Adversarial attacks on training data for LLMs is in fact a real issue. You can very very effectively punch up with regards to the proportion of effect on trained system with even small samples of carefully crafter adversarial inputs. There are things that can counter act this, but all of those things increase costs, and LLMs are very sensitive to economics.

Think of it this way. One, reason why humans don't just learn everything is because we spend as much time filtering and refocusing our attention in order to preserve our sense of self in the face of adversarial inputs. It's not perfect, again it changes economics, and at some point being wrong but consistent with our environment is still more important.

I have no skepticism that LLMs learn or understand. They do. But crucially, like everything else we know of, they are in a critically dependent, asymmetrical relationship with their environment. The environment of their existence being our digital waste, so long as that waste contains the correct shapes.

Long term I see regulation plus new economic realities wrt to digital data, not just to be nice or ethical, but because it's the only way future systems can reach reliable and economical online learning. Maybe the right things happen for the wrong reasons.

It's funny to me just how much AI ends up demonstrating non equilibrium ecology at scale. Maybe we'll have that self introspective moment and see our own relationship with our ecosystems reflect back on us. Or maybe we'll ignore that and focus on reductive world views again.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 5 points 10 months ago

True, there's value. But I think if you try to measure that value, it disappears.

A good postmorterm puts the facts on the table, and leaves the team to evaluate options. I don't think any good postmorterm should have apologies or ask people to settle social conflicts directly. One of the best tools a postmorterm has is the "we're going to work around this problem by reducing the dependency on personal relationships."

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 10 points 10 months ago (3 children)

And indeed, the other crucial piece is that... apologizing isn't a protocol with an expected reward function. I can just, not accept your apology. I can just, feel or "update my priors" howmever I like.

We apologize and care about these things because of shame. Which we have to regulate, in part through our actions and perspectives.

Why people feel the way they do and act the way do makes total sense when ~~one finally confronts your own vulnerabilities~~ sorry, builds an API and RL framework.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 12 points 10 months ago

Why does it feel like Yud is a magician trying to coax an increasingly uninterested audience with pulling handkerchiefs from his sleeve when his big saw the assistant in half trick doesnt net an applause in 2024?

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 8 points 10 months ago

Normies go crazy for this one neat rationalist trick!

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Talk a lot about white culture, and only scarcely mention that he thinks white culture is a product of genetics.

I remember in the early days of the "culture wars" as far as political agendas going, hearing about "white/ethno-european pride," and being naively curious, I actually tried to engage these people on the topics of European culture and history, and found exactly zero engagement on these topics. Just politics abusing people's confusion of heritage with people's internal shame and lack of identity.

The paradox I've always found is that the more secure in your identity and heritage you are, the more happy you are to share, grow, and widen that. Maybe a hot take, but growing up in the south, alot of people there hide their personal internal shame and confusion in aggression and identity politics.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 12 points 10 months ago

I think, I feel sorry for her, in the kind of I don't really endorse or have anything to do with sort of way.

She is the limit of what happens when you idolize certain people, are betrayed by certain people, and never grow from that experience.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 8 points 10 months ago

It's also, probably wrong. Modern views of intelligence (see Multiple realizability of cognition and Multi-level competency collective intelligence and Free Energy Principle models) suggest you are better of measuring intelligence by measuring it's metabolism or through perturbation and interactions.

Which isn't reductive enough for these people.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's hilarious to me how unnecessarily complicated invoking moore's law is to say anything..

With Moore's Law: "Ok ok ok, so like, imagine that this highly abstract, broad process over huge time period, is actually the same as manufacturing this very specific thing over a small time period. Hmm, it doesn't fit. ok, let's normalize the timelines with this number. Why? Uhhh because you know, this metric doubles as well. Ok. Now let's just put these things together into our machine and LOOK it doesn't match our empirical observations, obviously I've discovered something!"

Without Moore's Law: "When you reduce the dimensions of any system in nature, flattening their interactions, you find exponential processes everywhere. QED."

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A trillion transistors on our phones? Can't wait to feel the improved call quality and reliability of my video conferencing!

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Recently, a sign showed up in El Paso advertising San Francisco as a sanctuary city, as a great "own the libs," I suppose because SF would receive of applicants overwhelming their social service programs?

It didn't work.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 6 points 10 months ago

Precisely. The contradiction comes full circle. Respect for the self doesn't start or stop based on intelligence. They'd prefer a world view that allows them to clearly draw a circle around themselves, declare freedom from uncertainty, and demand our eternal gratitude.

This isn't hard. Relationships, not capabilities, are fundamental.

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