https://vegasharmon.com/works/humans-are-magnificent/ Recent content in Humans Are Magnificent on Vegas Harmon Hugo en Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/lookup-without-understanding/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://vegasharmon.com/commonplace/lookup-without-understanding/ “Artificial intelligence” is no more intelligent than a pocket calculator or a library: just because both can be used to quickly find something out, it does not mean that there is an intelligence there that understands something. This seems wrong. But why? The first reason that comes to mind is that AI is not as passive as a calculator or library. In contrast to a calculator, an LLM’s outputs are underspecified by human inputs.