A measure of complexity of large language models (LLMs) is the number of “parameters” they use. GPT-1 had on the order of 100 million parameters; the recently released GPT-4 used in ChatGPT has on the order of 1 trillion parameters — a ten-thousand-fold increase. I’m not an AI researcher, but I think we can look at human children to see why scaling the number of parameters will likely lead to diminishing returns on intelligence.
Continue reading “LLMs vs. 5 year olds”ChatGPT: Dawn of ubiquitous AI
Move over Eliza and expert systems. ChatGPT belongs to a family of artificial intelligence (AI) know as large language models (LLMs). The ChatGPT service lets you hold conversations with a computer ranging from astronomy to Zoroastrianism. This AI has some Kepler paid for my first month’s subscription of the ChatGPT service in December which gave me the opportunity to have more conversations with the AI. While it has its quirks, I can definitely see it becoming something that can assist with productivity when used correctly. In fact, I found it so useful, I got myself a subscription. In this blog post, I talk more about my experiences and where I think this technology might be headed.
Continue reading “ChatGPT: Dawn of ubiquitous AI”Electrical grids of the near-future
This blog post is around seven or eight years overdue. Anyway, I had been musing about energy grids at the time and thinking about things like long-distance alternating current (AC) power transmission, the rise of solar panels, and electronics. I figured in 15-20 years (so about 7-12 years from now), we’d start seeing direct current (DC) power being more available from the wall. Before that can happen, people need a supply of DC power and devices that use DC power.
The Proprietary Ties that Bind: Part I — Instagram, not the last straw
In yesterday’s New York Times, there was an article about people getting angry over changes to Instagram’s privacy policies under Facebook rule. Rebecca Lieb of the Altimeter Group was quoted as saying
There are always Facebook users who say ‘This is the last straw,’ [but] there’s not a lot of portability. Where would you go?”
Continue reading “The Proprietary Ties that Bind: Part I — Instagram, not the last straw”
Testing is sexy
Writing a slick iPhone app is exciting. Building a communication tool that changes how people communicate is stimulating. Hacking ((cracking)) into a bank’s security system to pull of a heist is the stuff of Hollywood. “Liberating” information from classified sources can lead one to be hailed a hero. Writing test cases for code is sexy. Wait… what?
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Star Light, Star Bright
Star light, star bright,
The first start I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might…
Hey, that’s no star…
It’s a satellite!
Looking up into space as a kid was so much simpler. Camping in the woods is no escape.
The War on Toronto
I’ve been following the current hearing about Mayor Ford and his alleged run-in with the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (MCIA). Over lunch, I explained to Daniel Levy, one of Steve’s new students, the gist of what is happening. Daniel, hailing most recently from Winnipeg ((Daniel had his bike stolen the week after he arrived and now he gets to hear about our mayor. Welcome to Toronto!)), rightly wondered if the Mayor’s oafishness is due to cherry-picked quotes from the media. Continue reading “The War on Toronto”
Improving by leaps and bionic bounds
One of the most interesting pieces I’ve read all week is about how people that would have been considered “disabled” a century ago are receiving prosthetics of all sorts that are closing or have closed the gap with “normal” individuals. The thing that struck me most was Wilson’s comment that it was not the rich that will benefit at first from physical and mental enhancements but those perceived to be at a disadvantage. This provided some reassurance that the world of Harrison Bergeron will probably not come to be — at least not in terms of handicapping. In that future, all individuals are equal by bringing those that are (more) gifted in some way to the level of the least through a system of handicaps. In a world full of prosthetics such as those mentioned in Wilson’s article, maybe there can be equality for all not by diminishing our abilities but by amplifying them.
An almost-blog post
A few months ago, Steve suggested I write a paper for a particular conference. He even gave me a topic. Brat that I am, I thought about for a few minutes and then flat out said no to that topic but thought of another one suitable for the conference. I decided to write on the ethics and legality of reCAPTCHA. While outside the scope of my academic oeuvre, I figured that even if my paper got rejected, it would still make for an interesting “Random musings” blog post. But it hasn’t come to that. Instead, you can look for it at PST 2012 in a couple of months. At seven pages (and possibly eight after further additions), this is longer than my typical blog post. You might want to get your favourite hot beverage ready before diving in.
The crabs I have to put up with
On Tuesday, while at the end of my office hours at UT Scarborough campus, I noticed the computer lab workstations I was using had some educational software for biology installed. I fired up the unit on Darwinian evolution. This involved a simulator depicting snails with different shell thicknesses and crabs.
Continue reading “The crabs I have to put up with”