Thread

1. aogaili · 1790086544 · focus · HN ↗

   If the problem was solved by anyone before or if a similar problem has been solved, then LLMs seem to be able to solve them which is an astonishing piece of technology.

   I'm personally not sure if it can come with original thinking and techniques to solve completely novel problems. For that, some imagination and thinking outside the box are required, and I doubt the current architecture can do any of this.

   1. mitthrowaway2 · 1790086708 · focus · HN ↗

      What's an example of a completely novel problem?

      1. irishcoffee · 1790087375 · focus · HN ↗

         Well it's an old one at this point, but the story around the invention of the 1-time pad is pretty interesting. Long story short, a new engineer who didn't know the problem was considered "impossible" was tasked with sorting it out, and he did. I'm sure I left out a lot of details.

         1. booty · 1790088246 · focus · HN ↗

            Why was this considered "impossible?"

            It's a brilliant idea, of course. But being considered "impossible" means it was considered previously and decided to be impossible. No?

            I mean, crpytographically, it's ultra-trivial. You "just" need to solve the logistical issues of (1) shortwave radio existing (2) figuring out how to make sure your field agents possess and are not caught with the disposable one-time codes. I am surprised anybody would consider that impossible.

            (I hope I am not downplaying the brilliance of the one-time pad idea itself)

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