Jacob Browning
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They seem so human, but they are very alien.
![](https://noemamag.imgix.net/2023/03/LZYXsbCb-156634.jpg?fit=crop&fm=pjpg&h=511&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=767&wpsize=noema-listing-tile&s=41fed4534754ef3f4ff7ce5d18cac335)
An artificial intelligence system trained on words and sentences alone will never approximate human understanding.
![](https://noemamag.imgix.net/2022/12/language.jpg?fit=crop&fm=pjpg&h=511&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=767&wpsize=noema-listing-tile&s=42bc58d2a03258bc7f85cdfca4de4208)
Can deep learning systems learn to manipulate symbols? The answers might change our understanding of how intelligence works and what makes humans unique.
![](https://noemamag.imgix.net/2022/11/Alex-William.jpg?fit=crop&fm=pjpg&h=511&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=767&wpsize=noema-listing-tile&s=bbfbd60a7a54ff7ea2470b25bfbebbf3)
Like every kind of intelligence, AI will develop appropriate representations of the world to accomplish what it needs for its various tas...
![](https://noemamag.imgix.net/2021/06/Noema_ThinkingMachine_V001.jpg?fit=crop&fm=pjpg&h=511&ixlib=php-3.3.1&rect=0%2C320%2C945%2C630&w=767&wpsize=noema-listing-tile&s=b800a30cf24d89fb4c36d51280678318)
As machine learning continues to develop, the intuition that thinking necessarily precedes learning — much less that humans alone can learn — should wane.
![](https://noemamag.imgix.net/2021/01/Noema_Noah_Campeu_The_Thinker_Thumbnail_v001.jpg?fit=crop&fm=pjpg&h=511&ixlib=php-3.3.1&w=767&wpsize=noema-listing-tile&s=73d31f5c4ad431e3281a04b12383730a)