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slightwinder11/04/20253 repliesview on HN

Photocopiers are the opposite of thinking. What goes in, goes out, no transformation or creating of new data at all. Any change is just an accident, or an artifact of the technical process.


Replies

HarHarVeryFunny11/04/2025

That's not actually true - try photocopying a banknote with the security pattern on it.

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justinclift11/04/2025

So, if there's a flaw in its sensor and you get somewhat warped output, would you consider it thinking then?

show 1 reply
Libidinalecon11/04/2025

It is the wrong category error.

The proper category error in the context of the discussion would be to say the photocopier is drawing a picture.

It doesn't matter how well or not the photocopier recreates an image. To say the photocopier is drawing a picture is just nonsense and has no meaning.

The same category error as to say the LLM is "thinking".

Of course, the category error could be well exploited for marketing purposes if you are in the business of selling photocopiers or language models.