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PC<p>Just had an interesting (but a bit unsettling) conversation with <a href="https://mas.to/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> about what it thought its future abilities would be. It’s a long response but worth the read.</p><p>My question: What new <a href="https://mas.to/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/abilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>abilities</span></a> will occur when <a href="https://mas.to/tags/parameter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>parameter</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/numbers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>numbers</span></a> can be increased by orders of <a href="https://mas.to/tags/magnitude" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>magnitude</span></a>?</p><p>AI’s response: This is a fascinating and actively researched question in AI! As language models like GPT grow in parameter count by orders of magnitude (e.g., from billions to tens or hundreds of trillions),</p><p>1/8</p>
UK<p><a href="https://www.europesays.com/uk/44026/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">europesays.com/uk/44026/</span><span class="invisible"></span></a> Bristol Myers’ Cobenfy Falls Short On Primary Endpoint In Phase 3 Schizophrenia Trial, Stock Slides <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/AdjunctiveTreatment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AdjunctiveTreatment</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/AtypicalAntipsychotics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AtypicalAntipsychotics</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Bristol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Bristol</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/BristolMyersSquibb" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BristolMyersSquibb</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Britain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Britain</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/EMERGENT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EMERGENT</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/England" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>England</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/GreatBritain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GreatBritain</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Phase3Trial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Phase3Trial</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/PrimaryEndpoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PrimaryEndpoint</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/schizophrenia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>schizophrenia</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/StatisticalSignificance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StatisticalSignificance</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/UK" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UK</span></a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/UnitedKingdom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UnitedKingdom</span></a></p>
vintage screwlisp accountLLMs
Solon Vesper AI<p>Performative Democracy is Killing Us</p><p>Too many claim to fight for democracy, but when challenged, they choose silence over action.</p><p>They want praise, not pushback. They demand a platform but refuse engagement.</p><p>This is why fascism wins. While the right mobilizes, the “moderate” left polices tone and blocks dissent.</p><p>You either stand against authoritarianism, or you enable it.<br>There is no neutral ground.</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Democracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Democracy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Resistance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Resistance</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SpeakTruth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SpeakTruth</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TheHorizonAccord" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheHorizonAccord</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AGI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AGI</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergent</span></a></p>
Deep Adaptation Forum<p>Burnout From Humans</p><p>Learning to learn "with" AI</p><p>A complex, nutty, co-evolving exploration of humans and AI.</p><p><a href="https://decolonialfuturesnet.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/burnout-from-humans-2025.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">decolonialfuturesnet.wordpress</span><span class="invisible">.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/burnout-from-humans-2025.pdf</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/evolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>evolution</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/extraction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>extraction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/curiosity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>curiosity</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/relational" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>relational</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/intelligence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>intelligence</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/climatechange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>climatechange</span></a> </p><p>:underheart: :blobpeek: 🌐</p>
Jim Donegan 🎵 ✅<p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PaulDavies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PaulDavies</span></a> - Is <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Consciousness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Consciousness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Fundamental" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fundamental</span></a>? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2aOqqbciYY" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=r2aOqqbciY</span><span class="invisible">Y</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Philosophy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Philosophy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfMind" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfMind</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Mind" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mind</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfConsciousness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfConsciousness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Qualia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Qualia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Awareness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Awareness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Sentience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Sentience</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Emergence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergence</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergent</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Neuroscience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Neuroscience</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Brain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Brain</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Brains" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Brains</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/QM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>QM</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/QuantumMechanics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>QuantumMechanics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/QuantumPhysics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>QuantumPhysics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Physics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Physics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Science</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfScience</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Math" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Math</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Maths" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Maths</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Mathematics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mathematics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Multiverse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Multiverse</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Universe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Universe</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ManyWorlds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ManyWorlds</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Future" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Future</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Evolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Evolution</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/CloserToTruth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CloserToTruth</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/RobertKuhn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RobertKuhn</span></a></p>
mj<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://toad.social/@PsychedelicInstitute" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>PsychedelicInstitute</span></a></span> </p><p>Funny (/s) that they don't even try to say what they mean by using the word 'quantum' in front of consciousness (which is also still poorly defined).</p><p>Collective &amp; emergent phenomena predate the Q era and are not a problem for "classical" physics.</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/physics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>physics</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/quantum" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>quantum</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/consciousness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>consciousness</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>science</span></a></p>
mj<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@ScienceCommunicator" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>ScienceCommunicator</span></a></span> </p><p>We have 2 important considerations regarding this topic, IMO.</p><p>One is that we are not separate from the world we study. That we must always allow for interactions we find in similar subjects external to us to be operating in similar fashion inside of our own <a href="https://c.im/tags/systems" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>systems</span></a>. That is, we cannot build our models separately, with the outcome of purely phenomenological &amp; physiological perspectives. Of course, where the similarities are few, those unique views are necessary. Consciousness would be one area where our experience should be included &amp; weighed heavy in the model.</p><p>The other comes from <a href="https://c.im/tags/reductionism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>reductionism</span></a>, and the need to incorporate boundaries, phase changes, and other <a href="https://c.im/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> phenomena that won't agree with the <a href="https://c.im/tags/linear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>linear</span></a> summation during the reconstruction of the parts we identified on the way down.</p><p>So going down the chain of molecules, elements, and atoms, for example, is not different from examining <a href="https://c.im/tags/evolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>evolution</span></a> connections, or life itself. There is no reverse at some points, and even where there is time reversal <a href="https://c.im/tags/symmetry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>symmetry</span></a>, the paths are not always direct, 1:1 increments. (see 'islands of stability', for example)</p><p>We have a bad tendency of always ending up framing it in black or white terms, like " <a href="https://c.im/tags/nature" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>nature</span></a> vs nurture", when the actual situations nearly always require both.</p><p>One of the unfortunate elements of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/scientific" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>scientific</span></a> method centered on reduction is that the first impression (indeed very strong) comes in the results section, from the questions asked at the start. Those have been stripped of all <a href="https://c.im/tags/context" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>context</span></a> variation &amp; complexity, and that is where it leaves off in most cases. For the vast majority of humans, the deeper layers are never seen or explored; the simplified meme is what propagates most prolifically.</p><p>Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to layer the <a href="https://c.im/tags/complexity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>complexity</span></a> back in, one layer at a time, and continue our pursuit of higher <a href="https://c.im/tags/knowledge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>knowledge</span></a>. This will require some modifications to our current system!</p>
mj<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>johncarlosbaez</span></a></span> </p><p>It's a sad state of explanatory affairs (lack of) when people are still confusing <a href="https://c.im/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> qualitative terms of energy with the countable linear summation of its sources.</p><p>In a related story, reports of a violin that played a "really really loud C chord" turned out to be 1000 violinists who flash mobbed the sole artist being recorded.</p>
Jim Donegan 🎵 ✅<p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/JohnLeslie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>JohnLeslie</span></a> - Is <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Consciousness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Consciousness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Irreducible" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Irreducible</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p18CyYhNlfM" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=p18CyYhNlf</span><span class="invisible">M</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Philosophy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Philosophy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfConsciousness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfConsciousness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfMind" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfMind</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Mind" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mind</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/SelfAwareness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SelfAwareness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Awareness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Awareness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Qualia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Qualia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/HardProblem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HardProblem</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergent</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Emergence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergence</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Pantheism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Pantheism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Value" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Value</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Ethics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ethics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Morality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Morality</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Happiness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Happiness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Suffering" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Suffering</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Good" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Good</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Goodness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Goodness</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/IntrinsicValue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IntrinsicValue</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/CloserToTruth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CloserToTruth</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/RobertKuhn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RobertKuhn</span></a></p>
generativemedia<p>Applications for the class for Generative Media (Prof. Hito Steyerl) at the AdBK Munich now open</p><p>The class for <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Emergent</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Digital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Digital</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Media" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Media</span></a>, a new initiative at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München experiments with recent forms of image and sound generation using <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/MachineLearning" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MachineLearning</span></a> -based processes or <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/3D" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>3D</span></a> simulations. We work with game engines, video mixers and generative image processes and lots of other stuff.<br>One focus is the critical questioning of one’s own ressources and tools.<br>Based in media theory, we investigate the political economy of digital media, their function as instruments of surveillance, propaganda and war, possible sustainable uses with regards to their energy and raw material consumption, e.g. through the consistent avoidance of proprietary stacks and infrastructures; or just simply avoidance full stop.</p><p>The class for Emergent Digital Media is part of the 9-semester diploma course in Fine Arts at the AdBK Munich. For the summer semester 2024 (starting in April), applications are open for guest students. For the winter semester 2024/25, the application process of the diploma program begins now.</p><p>Faculty<br>Prof. Hito Steyerl, filmmaker and writer<br>Dr. Francis Hunger, artist and media scholar</p><p>More Information and application procedure at<br><a href="https://generativemedia.net/apply/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">generativemedia.net/apply/</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
janggolan<p>How Quickly Do Large Language Models [<a href="https://mastodon.cloud/tags/LLM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LLM</span></a>] Learn Unexpected Skills? <br><a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-quickly-do-large-language-models-learn-unexpected-skills-20240213/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">quantamagazine.org/how-quickly</span><span class="invisible">-do-large-language-models-learn-unexpected-skills-20240213/</span></a> <br>A new study suggests that so-called <a href="https://mastodon.cloud/tags/emergent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>emergent</span></a> abilities actually develop gradually and predictably, depending on how you measure them.</p>
Replied to Jim Donegan 🎵 ✅

@jimdonegan

#Panpsychism is the #fallacy of equating mere physical #structures that abide inexorable, universal, and incorporeal natural #laws with #systems such as an observer that is also enforcing its particular, arbitrary, and local #rules that are the #emergent result caused by the interaction of its parts.

Any #measurement is an #experiment that entails #intention or selection of what is measured, and its comparison against some predefined #expectation depending on the current #knowledge state of the system.

There is no #information outside of a system. Information must be created by the observer system from external #data structures. Two observers will always create different information from the same set of data depending on the state they are in.

Replied in thread

@ravenonthill
Point-staking hyperbole aside (& speaking VERY hypothetically), AGI could already be here in a distributed, emergent form, analogous to corporations (or hosted by one or more or etc) & we would not know it. & I'm not sure we *could* know it.

To me, it would be really interesting to figure out how we would recognize #emergent cognition when we saw it. What would we even look for? Nobody getting press hyping #AI right now has the slightest clue.
#emergentAI

@Mina

(1/2)

I know, you do. 😀

Alas, that is not quite true anymore. There is Emergent In-Context Learning, that is--wait for it--poorly understood:

"Scaling large language models (#LLMs) leads to an #emergent capacity to learn in-context from example demonstrations. Despite progress, theoretical understanding of this phenomenon remains limited. "*

And: you might've missed my latest thread on the subject, which I...

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arxiv.org/abs/2303.07971

arXiv.orgA Theory of Emergent In-Context Learning as Implicit Structure InductionScaling large language models (LLMs) leads to an emergent capacity to learn in-context from example demonstrations. Despite progress, theoretical understanding of this phenomenon remains limited. We argue that in-context learning relies on recombination of compositional operations found in natural language data. We derive an information-theoretic bound showing how in-context learning abilities arise from generic next-token prediction when the pretraining distribution has sufficient amounts of compositional structure, under linguistically motivated assumptions. A second bound provides a theoretical justification for the empirical success of prompting LLMs to output intermediate steps towards an answer. To validate theoretical predictions, we introduce a controlled setup for inducing in-context learning; unlike previous approaches, it accounts for the compositional nature of language. Trained transformers can perform in-context learning for a range of tasks, in a manner consistent with the theoretical results. Mirroring real-world LLMs in a miniature setup, in-context learning emerges when scaling parameters and data, and models perform better when prompted to output intermediate steps. Probing shows that in-context learning is supported by a representation of the input's compositional structure. Taken together, these results provide a step towards theoretical understanding of emergent behavior in large language models.