Food for Thought Technology Uncategorized

GPT-3 – Great use of statistical computing, tells us nothing about language

https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/noam-chomsky-and-gpt-3 One good way to move beyond merely filling in the blanks might be to ask whether the models could reliably distinguish truth from fiction. In point of fact, they can’t. Rather, systems like GPT are truth-challenged, known to routinely lose coherence over long passages of text and known to fabricate endlessly. One such variant […]

Science! Space

The Search for Planet 9

The hunt for a potential ‘Planet 9’ by Shannon Stirone over on Longreads is a fascinating story of dogged, patient detective work. Learning from each failure and persisting is the theme of this story set in the other worldly landscape on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy, located at Hale […]

Wonderful World

Back in the day…

When they had computers, and non-cracking concrete, and so on. Although many inventors mentioned in this article were indeed considered geniuses, they cannot and should not be separated from their surroundings. Their work is not anachronistic, but a testament to the ingenuity and scientific potential of their respective civilizations All products of their time and […]