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XCSmetoday at 3:54 AM6 repliesview on HN

Not sure if AI can have clever or new ideas, it still seems to be it combines existing knowledge and executes algoritms.

I am not necessarily saying humans do something different either, but I have yet to see a novel solution from an AI that is not simply an extrapolation of current knowledge.


Replies

qnleightoday at 4:51 AM

Speaking as a researcher, the line between new ideas and existing knowledge is very blurry and maybe doesn't even exist. The vast majority of research papers get new results by combining existing ideas in novel ways. This process can lead to genuinely new ideas, because the results of a good project teach you unexpected things.

My biggest hesitation with AI research at the moment is that they may not be as good at this last step as humans. They may make novel observations, but will they internalize these results as deeply as a human researcher would? But this is just a theoretical argument; in practice, I see no signs of progress slowing down.

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dotancohentoday at 4:31 AM

We call that Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants and revere Isaac Newton as clever, even though he himself stated that he was standing on the shoulders of giants.

nkozyratoday at 4:08 AM

Clever/novel ideas are very often subtle deviations from known, existing work.

Sometimes just having the time/compute to explore the available space with known knowledge is enough to produce something unique.

salomonk_murtoday at 4:23 AM

There is no such thing. All new ideas are derived from previous experiences and concepts.

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glalondetoday at 5:35 AM

"extrapolation" literally implies outside the extents of current knowledge.

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aoeusnth1today at 6:09 AM

How would you know if it wasn't an extrapolation of current knowledge? Can you point me to somethings humans have done which isn't an extrapolation?

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