Speaking at an event in London on Tuesday, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun said that current AI systems “produce one word after the other really without thinking and planning”.
Because they struggle to deal with complex questions or retain information for a long period, they still “make stupid mistakes”, he said.
Adding reasoning would mean that an AI model “searches over possible answers”, “plans the sequence of actions” and builds a “mental model of what the effect of [its] actions are going to be”, he said.
wait, you mean the same models that supposed AI researchers were swearing had “glimmerings of intelligent reasoning” and “a complex world model” really were just outputting the most likely next word for a prompt? the current models are just fancy autocomplete but now that there’s a new product to sell, that one will be the real thing? and of course, the new models are getting pre-announced as revolutionary as interest in this horseshit in general takes a nosedive.
LeCun said it was working on AI “agents” that could, for instance, plan and book each step of a journey, from someone’s office in Paris to another in New York, including getting to the airport.
these must be the multi-agent models that AI fans won’t shut the fuck up about now that multi-modal LLMs are here and disappointing. is it just me or does the use case for this sound fucking stupid? like, there’s apps that do this already. this shit was solved already by application of the least-terrible surviving algorithms from the first AI boom. what the fuck is the point of re-solving travel planning, but now incredibly expensive and you can’t trust the results?
This is yet another example of people calling the shots here being completely detached from reality of an average person and bereft of imagination.
Surely the plebs would all want to have an underpaid secretary that plans your private jet trips for you so that you don’t have to interact with anyone. It’s the dream! I can’t imagine a life without that, surely they need it too!
the thing that bothers me about that lecunn statement is that it’s another of those not-even-wrong fuckers with an implicit assumption: that the problem is not that it doesn’t have intelligence, just that the intelligence isn’t very advanced yet - “oh yeah it just didn’t think ahead! that’s why foot in mouth! it’s like your drunk friend at a party!”
which, y’know, is not the case. but they all fucking speak with that implicit foundation, as though the intelligence is proven fact instead of total suggestion (I wanted to say “conjecture”, but that isn’t the right word either)
these must be the multi-agent models that AI fans won’t shut the fuck up about now that multi-modal LLMs are here and disappointing. is it just me or does the use case for this sound fucking stupid?
it’s also the pitch I keep seeing from a number of places, including that rabbit or whatever the fuck thing? and, frankly, can we not? these goddamn things can barely parse sentences and keep context, and someone wants to tell me that a model use is for it to plan my travel? with visas and flight times and transfers? nevermind all the extra implications of accounting for real-world issues (e.g. political sensitivity), preferences in sight-seeing, data privacy considerations (visiting friends)…
like it’s just a gigantic fucking katamari ball of nope
bro, bro. i’m not going to answer your question about the obvious and glaring problems, but here read these three preprints that are very exciting about the possibilities!!! no i can’t just explain in my own words what they say. but if you cannot refute the mathematics (you can tell it’s real maths because it’s got squiggly symbols in it) then you must acquit
someone wants to tell me that a model use is for it to plan my travel?
I don’t think any of these people have ever traveled. Honestly, I used to work for a company where the corporate travel people mostly lived in a small village in Germany, and their recommendations could be insane sometimes, but at least they knew what being a human was like.
It is not just you who think it is stupid as many do, but I think it is more than safe to say that not using an AI agent in the future, while possible, will be like trying to function in our world without a smartphone. Possible of course, but you are at a disadvantage. I personally look forward to my AI agent booking travel and being as thorough and then some as I could ever hope to be. I look forward to an AI agent to live inside my development environment and help me get things done and spend less time trying to fix issues. There are so many things that AI is going to be amazing at, and those who embrace will reap the benefits.
…will be like trying to function in our world without a smartphone.
As an ADHD and LightPhone enjoyer, It really isn’t that hard. You just have to live life with the forethought that the ancients employed way back in 2004. The gravest problem I’ve faced is that I’ve wasted a shit-ton of potential Jimmy John’s loyalty points on account of not having a QR code reader.
I think it is more than safe to say that not using an AI agent in the future, while possible, will be like trying to function in our world without a smartphone. Possible of course, but you are at a disadvantage
My friend, I think you have it backwards.
AI use vs genuine human interaction is going to be like getting a machine made t-shirt at Walmart for $5 vs hiring a tailor. AI is going to give you a markedly lower quality job for much cheaper, and that’s going to be its utility.
wait, you mean the same models that supposed AI researchers were swearing had “glimmerings of intelligent reasoning” and “a complex world model” really were just outputting the most likely next word for a prompt? the current models are just fancy autocomplete but now that there’s a new product to sell, that one will be the real thing? and of course, the new models are getting pre-announced as revolutionary as interest in this horseshit in general takes a nosedive.
these must be the multi-agent models that AI fans won’t shut the fuck up about now that multi-modal LLMs are here and disappointing. is it just me or does the use case for this sound fucking stupid? like, there’s apps that do this already. this shit was solved already by application of the least-terrible surviving algorithms from the first AI boom. what the fuck is the point of re-solving travel planning, but now incredibly expensive and you can’t trust the results?
This is yet another example of people calling the shots here being completely detached from reality of an average person and bereft of imagination.
Surely the plebs would all want to have an underpaid secretary that plans your private jet trips for you so that you don’t have to interact with anyone. It’s the dream! I can’t imagine a life without that, surely they need it too!
So, if anyone is keeping score, the promise of Artificial Intelligence has descended from “the computers on Star Trek” to “spicy ticket-booking”.
Ah yes, “getting to the airport”, one of the great unsolved challenges in computing.
in order to solve the Traveling Salesman Problem, the first step is to use a machine model to confirm the user isn’t a salesman
the thing that bothers me about that lecunn statement is that it’s another of those not-even-wrong fuckers with an implicit assumption: that the problem is not that it doesn’t have intelligence, just that the intelligence isn’t very advanced yet - “oh yeah it just didn’t think ahead! that’s why foot in mouth! it’s like your drunk friend at a party!”
which, y’know, is not the case. but they all fucking speak with that implicit foundation, as though the intelligence is proven fact instead of total suggestion (I wanted to say “conjecture”, but that isn’t the right word either)
it’s also the pitch I keep seeing from a number of places, including that rabbit or whatever the fuck thing? and, frankly, can we not? these goddamn things can barely parse sentences and keep context, and someone wants to tell me that a model use is for it to plan my travel? with visas and flight times and transfers? nevermind all the extra implications of accounting for real-world issues (e.g. political sensitivity), preferences in sight-seeing, data privacy considerations (visiting friends)…
like it’s just a gigantic fucking katamari ball of nope
bro, bro. i’m not going to answer your question about the obvious and glaring problems, but here read these three preprints that are very exciting about the possibilities!!! no i can’t just explain in my own words what they say. but if you cannot refute the mathematics (you can tell it’s real maths because it’s got squiggly symbols in it) then you must acquit
I don’t think any of these people have ever traveled. Honestly, I used to work for a company where the corporate travel people mostly lived in a small village in Germany, and their recommendations could be insane sometimes, but at least they knew what being a human was like.
It is not just you who think it is stupid as many do, but I think it is more than safe to say that not using an AI agent in the future, while possible, will be like trying to function in our world without a smartphone. Possible of course, but you are at a disadvantage. I personally look forward to my AI agent booking travel and being as thorough and then some as I could ever hope to be. I look forward to an AI agent to live inside my development environment and help me get things done and spend less time trying to fix issues. There are so many things that AI is going to be amazing at, and those who embrace will reap the benefits.
As an ADHD and LightPhone enjoyer, It really isn’t that hard. You just have to live life with the forethought that the ancients employed way back in 2004. The gravest problem I’ve faced is that I’ve wasted a shit-ton of potential Jimmy John’s loyalty points on account of not having a QR code reader.
My friend, I think you have it backwards.
AI use vs genuine human interaction is going to be like getting a machine made t-shirt at Walmart for $5 vs hiring a tailor. AI is going to give you a markedly lower quality job for much cheaper, and that’s going to be its utility.
Machine made t-shirt, with extra fingers.
Besides, isn’t most clothes just made by poor people in poor conditions instead of being made with machines? Just like AI.
“It’s garbage that generates giant rat dicks now, but I can’t wait to hand my life over to it tomorrow!”