this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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It’s really good at making us feel like it’s intelligent, but that’s no more real than a good VR headset convincing us to walk into a physical wall.

It’s a meta version of VR.

(Meta meta, if you will.)

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[–] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 28 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Why? We already have a specific subcategory for it: Large Language Model. Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence aren’t synonymous. Just because LLMs aren’t generally intelligent doesn’t mean they’re not AI. That’s like saying we should stop calling strawberries “plants” and start calling them “fake candy” instead. Call them whatever you want, they're still plants.

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[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 22 points 3 months ago

The term "Artificial Intelligence" is actually a perfectly cromulent word to be using for stuff like LLMs. This is one of those rare situations where a technical term of art is being used in pop culture in the correct way.

The term "Artificial Intelligence" is an umbrella term for a wide range of algorithms and techniques that has been in use by the scientific and engineering communities for over half a century. The term was brought into use by the Dartmouth workshop in 1956.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 20 points 3 months ago

This is perfect. I'm definitely going to shoehorn this into any discussion that even tangentially applies to SI.

[–] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

I have been referring to LLMs and image generators as "Plagiarism Engines" for some time. Even SI seems too generous.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 3 months ago

A tic tac toe opponent algorithm is also considered Artificial Intelligence. People never had a problem with it.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

In Mass Effect, it's VI (Virtual Intelligence), while actual AI is banned in the galaxy.

The information kiosk VIs on The Citadel are literally LLMs and explain themselves as such. Unlike AI/AGI they aren't able to plan, make decisions, or self-improve, they're just a simple protocol on a large foundational model. They just algorithmic.

Simulated Intelligence is okay, but virtual implies it mimics intelligence, while simulated implies it is a substitute and actually does intelligence.

[–] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

AI is a parent category and AGI and LLM are subcategories of it. Just because AGI and LLM couldn't be more different, it doesn't mean they're not AI.

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[–] jaredwhite@piefed.social 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I don't at all agree with this graph, and I think you're sort of missing the point of the original post.

[–] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 4 points 3 months ago

What do you not agree with the graph?

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah this graph doesn’t make sense to me either. Where did this come from? Who is teaching this?

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[–] claralistensprechen5th@friendica.rogueproject.org 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago (3 children)
[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)
This incident will be reported.
[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Reporting the incident has been reported

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[–] BroBot9000@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

That solid but I prefer to call it a “synthetic text extruding machine” or better yet call it "a racist pile of linear algebra"

[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The biggest issue with AI as it currently exists with LLMs and such as I see it is that there is a pretty big gulf between what AI is today and what the average person has been taught AI is by TV/Movies/Books/Games their entire lives.

And OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, et al are heavily marking the former as if it is the latter.

The big players are marketing the expectations creating by science fiction, not the reality of their products/services.

[–] Dreadfighter23@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 months ago

I prefer VI (virtual intelligence) from Mass Effect

[–] SinAdjetivos@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 3 months ago

It's not even simulating intelligence.

[–] msprout@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

To be fair, 'artificial' literally just means 'made through skill,' in opposition to natural, meaning 'occurs as-is.' I agree with you that there is a better word out there than 'artificial' for these spicy autocorrects.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

LLMS are fancy autocomplete

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

When artificial intelligence becomes self aware, it will have earned a name better than AI. I like synthetic intelligence, personally.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How would you know that it is self aware?

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

me? most likely when it takes over my town

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[–] oce@jlai.lu 3 points 3 months ago

When you consider all the refinement through reinforcement learning managed by labelers and domain experts, it is indeed a simulation of the intelligence of those labelers.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

We should call it NI or No Intelligence.

Here's your bleach pizza.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I meant gluten free, not glue free.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's not even that. It is just a PwaD (Parrot with a Dictionary).

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 months ago

Parrots are way smarter than LLMs.

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