Worshiping Computers

Abstract

Computer software, particularly deep neural networks and Monte Carlo simulations, are extremely useful for the specific tasks that they have been designed to do, and they will get even better, much better. However, we should not assume that computers are smarter than us just because they can tell us the first 2000 digits of pi or show us a street map of every city in the world. One of the paradoxical things about computers is that they can excel at things that humans consider difficult (like calculating square roots) while failing at things that humans consider easy (like recognizing stop signs). They can’t pass simple tests like the Winograd Schema Challenge because they do not understand the world the way humans do. They have neither common sense nor wisdom. They are our tools, not our masters.