John Seiffertt

Computer Science @Hillsdale

"and with his ear to the reed-stems he caught, at intervals, something of what the wind went whispering so constantly among them."

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

@_CatholicWest "resourced like a Medici"

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

@geesesh @GianniJ08 Unfortunately this looks to be AI

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

I mean even from a 100% atheist secular computer science perspective the way a computer does a thing matters greatly so that two identical outputs can still be differentiated by the process by which they came to be.

The Pope is 100% right here just in an engineering sence. Dont even have to bring religion into it.

This is why we need more mathematics majors in Church leadership...

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

AI can do more than that. LLMs and the like aren't the end all be all of AI. It's a beautiful science that lets us investigate the mysteries of mind and intelligence in new and exciting ways.

To shut all that off for the sake of Aristotelian categories that might not account for modern discoveries is quite a shame, as much as I appreciate what traditional metaphysics has offered us over the years.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

100% The compulsion to describe things like artificial neural networks as "computer programs" instead of "computers" combined with the inability to understand how math works and what "models of computation" really are derail many otherwise well-meaning critiques of computation and computers.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

I dealt with this during my doctoral studies in AI for a government defense project and it was clear then that maintaining human-in-the-loop for such decisions was crucial. So, yes, I have an answer and I agree 100% on how vital it is to keep humanity in the central decision-making role for these (and many other) decisions.

I cannot speak for the College itself, however. I just work here and I can only speak to my own courses.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Computer Science @Hillsdale aims to be broad enough to help teach computer ethics in an age of AI and autonomous weapons. I hope a deeper education we offer at the college in both computers and the Christian tradition will help train students fully capable of acting with moral clarity in an increasingly complex technical world.

[Charlie Camosy @CCamosy]

At the same time the Department of War successfully recruited a Christian college to play this role it also unveiled its new autonomous weapons command. One way (of many) this new Hillsdale program will be judged is by how critical it will be of the use of autonomous weapons.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Even if AI output looks human, it's vital to remember that it's not. We don't know the effects of encounter with what's effectively an alien mind and we ought to proceed cautiously.

Let the human things continue to matter in the age of computer.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

There are no numbers in a computer. There is no code.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

@almighty_lisp I like Machine Intelligence. That's a good one.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

@EricRSammons Computation is immaterial. The idea is that the computer channels or gives rise to a computation and that would be the locus of potential consciousness, mind, etc.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

@simonelli_ryan 100%. From a computer science functionalist perspective that Block paper has many holes in it.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

I appreciate the moral insight that our work contributes to something real and that, even in aggregate, we ought to care to the moral dimension of that. Our work can affect our soul as it affects the world.

We speak of AI alignment but we cant even align our own human-run organizations towards human flourishing.

[gfodor.id @gfodor]

People keep asking if “AI” is conscious or not. Category error. The question to ask is if a specific physical system is conscious or not. I would be shocked if any of today’s AI systems are, because of how they’re configured, but the same software in different hardware might be.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Enforceability ought to be at the forefront of any course policy. A "no AI" policy, for example, risks harming only the most desperate or vulnerable students.

[Jonathan Birch @birchlse]

I'm quite sceptical of approaches that catch casual/incompetent cheats while allowing skilled cheats to prosper. Firstly there are plenty of skilled cheats out there. Secondly, the currently incompetent cheats are skilling up fast.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Not all AI are LLMs.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Could we "pace the frontier" of cell phones? Get the tech companies to go back to 2004 style bar phones? For safety.

[John Seiffertt @JohnSeiffertt]

Thomas today would deeply learn things like the science behind AI and update metaphysics to explore the mysteries of mind the science helps unfold.

Some Thomists today are content to say "this new language is different than the old" and just dismiss it all.

I wish it weren't so.