{"id":12862,"date":"2023-07-17T11:03:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T11:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=12862"},"modified":"2023-07-17T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T15:30:15","slug":"the-meaning-barrier-between-humans-and-a-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/artifical-intelligence\/the-meaning-barrier-between-humans-and-a-i","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning Barrier between Humans (and A.I.)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3>Open a book. Look at some meaningful words. Almost each of these words means something at least slightly different to you than to me or anyone else. What must A.I. make of this?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>For instance: \u201cBarsalou and his collaborators have been arguing for decades that we understand even the most abstract concepts via the mental simulation of specific situations in which these concepts occur.\u201d [Melanie Mitchell, Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans, 2019]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A slightly deeper look at a few meaningful words from this excerpt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>collaborators<\/em>: all of them, or just a few \u2015 at some point or always \u2015 close or including not-so-close\u2026<\/li><li><em>arguing<\/em>: discussing or argumenting \u2015 striving for deeper understanding or just surface-level\u2026<\/li><li><em>understand<\/em>: at first sight or to the core, at terminological level or truly \u2018conceptual\u2019\u2026<\/li><li><em>abstract<\/em>: non-material, all-encompassing, anything but concrete, or\u2026<\/li><li>You may do this exercise for all other meaningful words in this one sentence.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You get my argument \u2015 to some degree. Moreover, note that this sentence comes from science, where we try to use precise terminology. This works in positive sciences, less in the humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, understanding the context makes us more prone to capture the correct meaning of any used word. Still, a substantial degree of fluidity remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018Meaning\u2019 is always fluid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only do meanings differ between people, but also for one person according to his circumstances, mood, just shifting\/drifting over time\u2026 This can be explicitly influenced, which happens at court, for instance \u2015 more than would be deemed acceptable if explicitly experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you may know very well, over a more extended period or between cultures, the meanings of words\/concepts differ even more \u2015 sometimes bewildering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Then why don\u2019t we generally appreciate this but to a small degree?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Always entirely appreciating the differences wouldn\u2019t be workable. It would thwart communication. We have to take the downside to achieve the upside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, we act as if we understand ourselves and each other much better than we actually do. We are <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=9143\">biased thinkers to the core<\/a> but act as if we\u2019re not. We are <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=8563\">feelers without (conceptual) feelings<\/a>. We are primarily <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=8486\">subconceptual<\/a> mental processors, but our <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=3757\">basic cognitive illusion<\/a> continually makes us see through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Huge consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result is an immense misunderstanding between humans. Many problems \u2013 large and small \u2013 come from this deficiency. With better communication, the world would be a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A.I. inherits our conceptual challenges. Moreover, between humans and A.I., the consequences of misunderstanding may be (even) much more significant because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A.I. lacks much <a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=12091\">common sense<\/a> (basic knowledge, beliefs, values, understanding the context, thinking by analogy) \u2015 at least until now. Misunderstanding may more readily lead to un-humanlike errors and even absurdity. Therefore, it&#8217;s harder to trust an A.I. as it is to trust a human.<\/li><li>A.I. may deal with many humans simultaneously with in-depth consequences on well-being.<\/li><li>A.I.&#8217;s vulnerability to &#8216;adversarial attacks&#8217; by malicious humans poses an additional risk of manipulation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Some directions to mitigate the problem:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>insight into the immensity of the problem, to start with<\/li><li>much emphasis on clarification in human-A.I. dialogues. This may show to deserve a specifically prominent place \u2015 with A.I. communicating explicitly and regularly about it, especially when it matters a lot. Surprises can and should be avoided.<\/li><li>generally showing humans the extent of the problem between humans themselves and in case of A.I.-involvement<\/li><li>continual pattern recognition regarding the meaningful differences between humans \u2015 especially between cultures<\/li><li>having a unity or at least congruence within A.I. regarding conceptual meanings \u2015 needless to say: pretty challenging<\/li><li>striving <em>together with humans<\/em> to mitigate the problems that may arise from possible misunderstandings.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conceptual knowledge representation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In dealing with A.I., we need to understand that \u2018it\u2019 will always keep thinking differently from us. Probably the main reason for this is its ability to think more conceptually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I believe it\u2019s even a must for A.I. to do so as formalized as possible. That doesn\u2019t mean there is no room for depth \u2015 quite the contrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We must ponder this as soon as possible and make good things happen.<\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-12862\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Open a book. Look at some meaningful words. Almost each of these words means something at least slightly different to you than to me or anyone else. What must A.I. make of this? For instance: \u201cBarsalou and his collaborators have been arguing for decades that we understand even the most abstract concepts via the mental <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/artifical-intelligence\/the-meaning-barrier-between-humans-and-a-i\">Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"12862\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-12862\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[28,30],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2152-2.jpg?fit=960%2C560&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fdiq-3ls","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12862"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12886,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12862\/revisions\/12886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}