Researchers who create and study tech like ChatGPT don't understand how it works. The episode explores the rise of AI in chess and Go, the mysterious nature of chat GPT AI, the impressive abilities of GPT-4, and the unpredictability of AI systems.
AI systems like ChatGPT and AlphaGo can perform complex tasks but their inner workings remain a mystery to their creators.
The lack of understanding surrounding AI's decision-making processes and the inability to fully control these systems present significant challenges for researchers and developers.
Deep dives
The Evolution of AI: From Deep Blue to AlphaGo
In the early days of AI, researchers aimed to build super intelligent systems that could replicate human intelligence. Deep Blue, IBM's chess-playing program, was one of the first successful examples. It was programmed with chess moves and board states, ranking their quality with the help of chess grandmasters. While Deep Blue reflected human knowledge of chess, it lacked creativity and generated nothing new. However, AlphaGo, developed by Google's DeepMind, introduced a new approach to AI. It used an artificial neural network to learn through trial and error, playing millions of simulated games against itself. AlphaGo's ability to learn and make unexpected moves baffled even the world champion at the time. This marked a significant shift in AI development, proving that AI systems could exceed human understanding.
Chat GPT: Uncertainty in AI Understanding
Chat GPT, an AI model developed by OpenAI, utilizes a trial and error method to simulate human-like conversation. It was trained with tons of text data and relies on upvoted and downvoted responses to sound more natural. However, even the creators of Chat GPT admit they don't fully understand how it works. With millions of numbers flipping around rapidly, researchers struggle to explain its decision-making process. Despite its clear language capabilities, Chat GPT lacks predictability and often fails to provide factual information. Yet, it can exhibit remarkable abilities, composing business strategies, writing computer code, and even solving complex balancing problems creatively. Its mix of intelligence and unpredictability raises questions about to what extent AI developers can truly comprehend and control these systems.
The Challenge of Explainable AI
As AI becomes more powerful and integrated into society, the lack of understanding surrounding its inner workings poses significant challenges. Efforts are being made to demystify AI and make it interpretable, either by deciphering existing systems or designing new, fully explainable ones. However, progress in both approaches has been slow and difficult. The complex nature of neural networks, the massive number of calculations involved, and the lack of concepts to understand AI thinking contribute to the struggle of explaining AI's reasoning. Additionally, the rapid advancements in AI technology and its potential impact on various institutions add urgency to the need for better comprehension and navigation of this transformative field.
The researchers who create and study tech like ChatGPT don’t understand exactly how it’s doing what it does. This is the first episode of “The Black Box,” a two-part series from Unexplainable.
This episode was reported and produced by Noam Hassenfeld, edited by Brian Resnick and Katherine Wells with help from Byrd Pinkerton and Meradith Hoddinott, and fact-checked by Serena Solin, Tien Nguyen, and Mandy Nguyen. It was mixed and sound designed by Cristian Ayala with music by Noam Hassenfeld.