When I was in grad school studying control theory — a field that attracts glum, pessimistic people — I used to hang out a lot with AI people, since I was using some AI methods in my work. Back then, AI people were even more glum and pessimistic than controls people, which is an achievement worthy of the Nobel prize in literature. This whole deep learning thing, which has turned AI people into cheerful optimists, happened after I left academia. Back in my day, the AI people were still stuck in what is known as GOFAI land, or “Good Old-Fashioned AI.” Instead of using psychotic deep-dreaming
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