Thomas Dietterich

Thomas Dietterich, a distinguished professor emeritus at Oregon State University, dives into the latest trends in AI and machine learning. He discusses the strengths and weaknesses of large language models like GPT-4, while exploring their potential limitations in reasoning. The conversation covers topics like uncertainty quantification and the fascinating world of 'hallucinations' in language models. Dietterich also offers predictions for 2024 and motivates newcomers to tap into the field's endless possibilities.

Thomas Dietterich, pioneer in machine learning, discusses the early days of AI, philosophy of science in AI, levels of understanding and sentience, error correcting output codes, hierarchical reinforcement learning, computational sustainability, flaws of language models, and more.

In this discussion, Thomas Dietterich, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University and expert in AI, dives into the nuances of machine understanding. He critiques current systems, advocating for a richer definition of 'understanding' in AI. The conversation touches on the hype surrounding AI advancements and the path toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), proposing that AGI should be viewed as a collection of specialized components. Dietterich also explores the philosophical implications of understanding through the Chinese Room argument, challenging perceptions of true comprehension.