[iteygib]

In this case I would say AI is the crocodile, the same as all life is. It's specializing (or becoming specialized) in something, which is prediction, in the same way a human (or any life that shows the same definitions of intelligence as us, like a crow solving a puzzle) can show success in a new or novel situation. But life does not need this definition of intelligence to survive, which leads to the basis of evolutionary theory. The trait of adaptability/prediction/intelligence is not always useful given a niche and can get weeded out, which is why most life does not need it, yet they are still around. In organisms that do possess it, it can be a detriment as well given specific situations (over analyzing, stuck in anxiety, excessive risks to adapt, etc.).

In other words, when we say an LLM is becoming intelligent, it's not that it is in the general sense. It's that we recognize the traits within it because the traits make sense to us and mimic what we define ourselves in terms of specializing, because quite obviously, we made it and provide its data input. But, the key difference is that AI has none of the original impetus or evolutionary pressures that led to our own ability to generalize/specialize. This is because its output is derived from human input, which is fed through it through digitized means, which means there is always some kind of 'loss' since it is a specialized aspect of us.

It is why I made the reference to typing. We are communicating right now, but at the same time, it is a specialized form of it. It is not the full original human experience of talking to one another, but does not have to be in this case, because it works well enough and has some advantages given the niche. If we were using Facetime, it would be much closer, but still not quite the same as being in the same room face-to-face.

In my opinion, we are not so much prediction machines, but rather mimickers who can also create mimics of themselves via what we can make. You do not need to be able to predict that well if you can just mindlessly copy something that succeeded somehow.