Computers are machines that do math and humans are not

Are computers really that impressive compared to us?

It's easy for us to get grandiose about 🤖 Artificial Intelligence. Of course it's impressive, but ultimately computers are machines that do math. Humans are not. For example, without instinct are we making more mistakes, perhaps fewer?

There's a deep desire for the human condition not to be a deterministic output of our chemical or genetic or cultural forces, but for there to be something that allows for free will and surprise and creativity that belongs to us.

Math is a system of symbolic logic. It is not the indefinable thing that makes us human. And when you are building a computer program, it'll work if you do it this way and then it won't work if you do it the other way. But that's not how culture operates. That's not how relationships work. So there's a really a fundamental difference between what we can do with computers and what we can do in society. Because when it comes right down to it, computers are machines that do math. They compute. And we forget that when we get grandiose about artificial intelligence and we get grandiose about our imaginings.

A More Perfect Human

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