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Thomas Dietterich

@tdietterich.bsky.social

7.5K followers 490 following 890 posts

Safe and robust AI/ML, computational sustainability. Former President AAAI and IMLS. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Oregon State University. https://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~tgd/

web.engr.oregonstate.edu

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 20h

If all of our cameras digitally signed their images and our web browsers verified those signatures and prominently displayed the verification (or lack thereof), perhaps that would go part way to addressing the decay of authenticity?

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 1d

And digital signatures?

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 6d

Highly misleading headline @washingtonpost.com

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

IIRC Thomas Griffiths and his students have made some successful predictions of this kind.

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

It doesn’t have to match in every way, but a useful simulation can predict how human cognition will behave under a wide range of circumstances.

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

As an AI researcher, I study how to build useful systems. But I would never claim that they simulate human cognition. The systems mimic some aspects of human intelligent behavior, nothing more.

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

But you used the word “simulate”, and I want to take that seriously. Statistical ML does not match human generalization in my (extensive) experience.

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

Do you know of work comparing GPT memory behavior to human memory behavior? I have not been tracking this literature

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

A simulation only matches the simulated system in some ways and not in others. What aspects of cognition do you claim are matched by GPTs?

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

It would be great to invent some more precise terms for all of the various technologies that are referred to as AI. Ideas?

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 10d

These AI are being used for much more than chatbots. They are enabling better retrieval and summarization of the scientific literature. They are improving language translation. And they certainly help less experienced programmers

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Thanks! Always eager to learn more.

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

This is not true if you are crossing languages. LLMs have unquestionably improved the technical writing of Chinese authors

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Based on the photo, I thought this was from @theonion.com

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Can you recommend an alternative that also seeks to be objective?

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Copyright law doesn't protect what people seem to want it to protect. This talk by Pamela Samuelson @pamelasamuelson.bsky.social was very enlightening.
icml.cc/virtual/2025...

ICML Invited Talk Generative AI's Collision with Copyright LawICML 2025

icml.cc

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Great article on autism.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

Opinion | Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism.

www.nytimes.com

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 15d

There has been work on steering vectors for various properties. It would be interesting to see if we can identify the embedding space directions that correspond to prestige, gender, etc. If so, we can neutralize them during inference.

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 15d

With careful engineering (e.g., focusing an LLM on specific sections and asking specific questions), I think LLMs can be useful as part of peer review. But of course they need careful testing such as this paper performs to check for biases and other spurious correlations.

Reposted by Thomas Dietterich

Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 16d

But I am reading a long Hitchens essay from when he was still a leftist and socialist about Thomas Paine and he writes about this parody from 1791, sung to the tune of My Country ‘Tis of Thee:

God save great Thomas Paine,
His ‘Rights of Man’ explain
To every soul.
He makes the blind to see
What dupes and slaves they be,
And points out liberty,
From pole to pole.

Thousands cry ‘Church and King’
That well deserve to swing,
All must allow:
Birmingham blush for shame,

Manchester do the same,
Infamous is your name,
Patriots vow.

Pull proud oppressors down,
Knock off each tyrant's crown,
And break his sword;
Down aristocracy,
Set up democracy,
And from hyprocrisy
Save us good Lord.

Why should despotic pride
Usurp on every side?
Let us be free:
Grant Freedom's arms success,
And all her efforts bless,
Plant through the universe
Liberty's Tree.

Facts are seditious things

When they touch courts and kings,
Armies are raised,
Barracks and bastilles built,
Innocence charged with guilt,
Blood most unjustly spilt,
Gods stand amazed.

Despots may howl and yell,
Though they're in league with hell
They'll not reign long;
Satan may lead the van,
And do the worst he can,
Paine and his ‘Rights of Man’
Shall be my song.

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 17d

Good insight. I wonder if it contributes to a growing anger that eventually ends in an angry tweet?

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 18d

De-Nazification and De-Baathification come to mind. I have no idea how to carry those out unless the fascists have already lost all public support

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 20d

Maybe. But I’d love to see the ratio of reviewing to submitting. Of course we need some assessment of the quality of the reviews as well as of the submissions. Maybe reviews could also be rejected if they are not done well?

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 21d

So true! It is a special variety of confirmation bias. I fall for it all the time.

Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 21d

Absolutely. There are other policies that could help outsiders get good work accepted.