Prof Gary Marcus revisited his keynote from AGI-21, noting that many of the issues he highlighted then are still relevant today despite significant advances in AI.

This is part 1, we will be releasing an in-depth interview with Gary in the coming weeks.

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Gary Marcus criticized current large language models (LLMs) and generative AI for their unreliability, tendency to hallucinate, and inability to truly understand concepts.
Marcus argued that the AI field is experiencing diminishing returns with current approaches, particularly the "scaling hypothesis" that simply adding more data and compute will lead to AGI.
He advocated for a hybrid approach to AI that combines deep learning with symbolic AI, emphasizing the need for systems with deeper conceptual understanding.
Marcus highlighted the importance of developing AI with innate understanding of concepts like space, time, and causality.
He expressed concern about the moral decline in Silicon Valley and the rush to deploy potentially harmful AI technologies without adequate safeguards.
Marcus predicted a possible upcoming "AI winter" due to inflated valuations, lack of profitability, and overhyped promises in the industry.
He stressed the need for better regulation of AI, including transparency in training data, full disclosure of testing, and independent auditing of AI systems.
Marcus proposed the creation of national and global AI agencies to oversee the development and deployment of AI technologies.
He concluded by emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, focusing on robust AI with deep understanding, and implementing smart, agile governance for AI and AGI.

Pre-order Gary's new book here:
Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure That AI Works for Us
https://amzn.to/4fO46pY

Filmed at the AGI-24 conference:
https://agi-conf.org/2024/

Refs:
Closed source vs open-source models slide ~24 mins
Fine-tune Llama 3.1 Ultra-Efficiently with Unsloth (Maxime Labonne/Liquid AI)
https://huggingface.co/blog/mlabonne/...

TOC:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:34 Introduction by Ben G
00:05:17 Gary Marcus begins talk
00:07:38 Critiquing current state of AI
00:12:21 Lack of progress on key AI challenges
00:16:05 Continued reliability issues with AI
00:19:54 Economic challenges for AI industry
00:25:11 Need for hybrid AI approaches
00:29:58 Moral decline in Silicon Valley
00:34:59 Risks of current generative AI
00:40:43 Need for AI regulation and governance
00:49:21 Concluding thoughts
00:54:38 Q&A: Cycles of AI hype and winters
01:00:10 Predicting a potential AI winter
01:02:46 Discussion on interdisciplinary approach
01:05:46 Question on regulating AI
01:07:27 Ben G's perspective on AI winter