swlabr

An airplane does not flap its wings. And an autopilot is not the same as a pilot. Still, everybody is ok with saying that a plane "flies" and an autopilot "pilots" a plane.

This is the difference between the same system and a system that performs the same function.

When it comes to flight, we focus on function, not mechanism. A plane achieves the same outcome as birds (staying airborne) through entirely different means, yet we comfortably use the word "fly" for both.

With Generative AI, something strange happens. We insist that only biological brains can "think" or "understand" language. In contrast to planes, we focus on the system, not the function. When AI strings together words (which it does, among other things), we try to create new terms to avoid admitting similarity of function.

When we use a verb to describe an AI function that resembles human cognition, we are immediately accused of "anthropomorphizing." In some way, popular opinion dictates that no system other than the human brain can think.

I wonder: why?