> stochastic parrots thesis (if it has any empirically-predictive content at all
Did you read TFA? This is precisely one of the non-questions that she answers.
> stochastic parrots thesis (if it has any empirically-predictive content at all
Did you read TFA? This is precisely one of the non-questions that she answers.
Yes, she addresses this by denying that she's made any empirical hypothesis, but in a way that's some combination of disingenuous and confused.
She also says:
> What I am trying to do... is to help people understand what these systems actually are
Can a phrase that has no empirical content aid people in understanding an empirical phenomenon?
> the astonishing willingness of so many to... turn to synthetic text... for all kinds of weighty decisions.
Why is this astonishing, if the nature of these models as "stochastic parrots" places no limitations whatosever on their empirical capabilities, reliability, etc?
> the field of linguistics is particularly relevant in this moment, as a linguist’s eye view on language technology is desperately needed to help make wise decisions about how we do and don’t use these products
Is it wise to make decisions about a product on the basis of information that has no relevance to how it is actually likely to behave?
(It may be, if one has ethical concerns with "data theft, the exploitative labor practices", etc -- but one could have such concerns about any kind of product, not just a "stochastic parrot", and linguists are not generally academia's experts on, e.g., labor practices.)