Everyone involved in AI should have read The Library of Babel [1].
It's about many things, but perhaps the most relevant idea here is that no information matters without understanding. We could generate all possible knowledge, but unless someone--a human--can verify and understand it, it doesn't count. The cure for mortality could be written on the moon, but if no one reads it, it hasn't really been discovered.
If I vibecode a video game and manage to sell it on Steam, the information definitely mattered even though I didn't understand any of it.
There are drugs that nobody truly understands how they work and they are being used by professionals in actual treatments literally right now. We know purely statistical facts like "if drug X is used for condition Y it will help Z% of patients" and can only speculate as to their mechanism of action. They are used anyway and still benefit a lot of people.
The regurgitated approximation can matter just as much depending on what results it accomplishes. If I somehow make money out of this, then it's mission accomplished. Arguably, they might even matter more than my artisanal hand crafted software projects which never paid me a living wage.
Planktonne · · focus · HN ↗
It's about many things, but perhaps the most relevant idea here is that no information matters without understanding. We could generate all possible knowledge, but unless someone--a human--can verify and understand it, it doesn't count. The cure for mortality could be written on the moon, but if no one reads it, it hasn't really been discovered.
[1] <a href="https://maskofreason.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/the-library-of-babel-by-jorge-luis-borges.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://maskofreason.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/0...
matheusmoreira · · focus · HN ↗
If I vibecode a video game and manage to sell it on Steam, the information definitely mattered even though I didn't understand any of it.
There are drugs that nobody truly understands how they work and they are being used by professionals in actual treatments literally right now. We know purely statistical facts like "if drug X is used for condition Y it will help Z% of patients" and can only speculate as to their mechanism of action. They are used anyway and still benefit a lot of people.
undersuit · · focus · HN ↗
matheusmoreira · · focus · HN ↗
undersuit · · focus · HN ↗