> "AI" == "what (through tech) can replace a professional"
But as you point out, we used to have human calculators. So is a simple desk calculator a form of "AI"? If so, what type of software isn't AI?
> "AI" == "what (through tech) can replace a professional"
But as you point out, we used to have human calculators. So is a simple desk calculator a form of "AI"? If so, what type of software isn't AI?
> is a simple desk calculator a form of "AI"
If what it does is "taking care of the carry", it represents a pretty minimal requirement for intelligence - it does replace a professional that could do it, but that professional does not have to apply too much proficiency and cleverness to do its job. It is improper AI.
> what type of software isn't AI
That which would not correspond to the job of an intelligent entity. Maybe blitting bitmaps around a screen?
As I tried to convey, it is more of a matter of perspective: the area of "implementing ways to solve problems as an intelligent entity would". It is a discipline that intersects others - engineering, logic, brain science, philosophy, epistemology, maybe again economics (as "the science of optimality and efficiency" - as an intelligent solver would do)... Consider it a special discipline that spans many other realms.
> Maybe blitting bitmaps around a screen?
Okay, that makes sense. Even so:
> If what it does is "taking care of the carry", it represents a pretty minimal requirement for intelligence - it does replace a professional that could do it, but that professional does not have to apply too much proficiency and cleverness to do its job. It is improper AI.
I think you're underselling how much mental work is required to solve complex arithmetic. Yes, it's simple for a computer, but (1) even basic computers are extremely complex in absolute terms, and (2) even the most complex computing tasks could be considered simple once you break them down far enough—for example, a large language model is "just" fancy matrix multiplication.
So I feel like there's a "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" element here. Something becomes AI once it seems sufficiently advanced. But then time passes and it doesn't feel that advanced anymore.
I understand that human language doesn't always have a super precise definition, and I'm not trying to be pedantic. I think the term "artificial intelligence" is under-specified to the point of having virtually no meaning. To the extent that it is useful—obviously, a lot of people are using it conversation, so something is getting communicated—it's because it's possible to infer from context what someone is referring to (ie "the student used AI to write her essay" is clearly referring to an LLM, not Eliza).
We'd all be better off if we used words that describe what we're actually talking about.