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Oops! We Automated Bullshit. | Department of Computer Science and Technology (www.cst.cam.ac.uk)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.ml
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[–] 62 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I really liked this article. If you know how AI works, it's tempting to call what it does "lying", but I like "bullshit" as a distinct concept for describing being totally indifferent to facts. And it's interesting that 30% of people in the UK view themselves as having a "bullshit" job, one where they don't think they contribute anything of value to society. You can totally see why language models would be appealing to so many people.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    confabulating

    I think this is a better term for it

    Edit: ChatGPT == Trump[consummate bullshitter]? I feel like its "intentions" or "programming" are slightly above that but maybe not...

    Edit: its interesting how a program can be written that basically replicates Trump's speech patterns in a replicable and recognizeable way. Where did Trump derive his speech pattern? Like, I know he reads Hitler speeches on his nightstand but is it only Hitler that informs his parole (individual speech patterns)?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The only issue I have there is that it isn't as widely known and understood. Also if you say someone is confabulating, it means they don't realize that they are bullshitting, whereas language models are literally designed to bullshit in this manner.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Confabulation

    • An informal conversation
    • (psychiatry) a plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered

    Like there's no perfect analogy but I am partial to this characterization, I dunno.

    Discuss aha

    Edit: I really hope I'm not the originator of this, don't need that in my life right now. It just seems to fit better imao

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    I know what it means. For me it also implies an attempt at saying something which is true, even if simply interpolating from other facts. It doesn't fully reflect the total indifference to reality that is exhibited by language models

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