AI's Lack of True Comprehension in Conversations

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This chapter explores the limitations of AI systems in engaging in human-level reasoning and comprehension. The speaker emphasizes that AI chatbots may mimic reasoning and generate intelligible output, but they lack true understanding of the meaning behind the words they use. The chapter also discusses the misnomer of 'artificial intelligence' and proposes alternative descriptions to capture the nature of AI.

Are generative AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT really intelligent? Large language models such as GPT 4 appear to use human-level cognitive abilities when they engage in legal reasoning, write essays or solve complex problems. Hosts John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia speak to Emily Bender, professor of computational linguistics at the University of Washington, to find out what’s really happening under the hood, and also hear from Pablo Arredondo of CaseText, which develops AI tools for lawyers; influential computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and Konstantin Arkoudas, an AI expert who’s worked on Amazon’s Alexa.

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Tech Tonic is presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill. Senior producer is Edwin Lane and the producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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