How AI pales in the face of human intelligence and ingenuity | Letters
Gary Marcus is right to point out – as many of us have for years – that just scaling up compute size is not going to solve the problems of generative artificial intelligence (When billion-dollar AIs break down over puzzles a child can do, it’s time to rethink the hype, 10 June),But he doesn’t address the real reason why a child of seven can solve the Tower of Hanoi puzzle that broke the computers: we’re embodied animals and we live in the world,All living things are born to explore, and we do so with all our senses, from birth,That gives us a model of the world and everything in it,We can infer general truths from a few instances, which no computer can do.
A simple example: to teach a large language model “cat”, you have to show it tens of thousands of individual images of cats – being the way they are, they may be up a tree, in a box, or hiding in a roll of carpet.And even then, if it comes upon a cat playing with a bath plug, it may fail to recognise it as a cat.A human child can be shown two or three cats, and from interacting with them, it will recognise any cat as a cat, for life.Apart from anything else, this embodied, evolved intelligence makes us incredibly energy-efficient compared with a computer.The computers that drive an autonomous car use anything upwards of a kilowatt of energy, while a human driver runs on twentysomething watts of renewable power – and we don’t need an extra bacon sandwich to remember a new route.
At a time of climate emergency, the vast energy demands of this industry might perhaps lead us to recognise, and value, the extraordinary economy, versatility, plasticity, ingenuity and creativity of human intelligence – qualities that we all have simply by virtue of being alive.Sheila HaymanAdvisory board member, Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, Cambridge University It comes as no surprise to me that Apple researchers have found “fundamental limitations” in cutting-edge artificial intelligence models (Advanced AI suffers ‘complete accuracy collapse’ in face of complex problems, study finds, 9 June).AI in the form of large reasoning models or large language models (LLMs) are far from being able to “reason”.This can be simply tested by asking ChatGPT or similar: “If 9 plus 10 is 18 what is 18 less 10?” The response today was 8.Other times, I’ve found that it provided no definitive answer.
This highlights that AI does not reason – currently, it is a combination of brute force and logic routines to essentially reduce the brute force approach.A term that should be given more publicity is ANI – artificial narrow intelligence, which describes systems like ChatGPT that are excellent at summarising pertinent information and rewording sentences, but are far from being able to reason.But note, the more times that LLMs are asked similar questions, the more likely it will provide a more reasonable response.Again, though, this is not reasoning, it is model training.Graham TaylorMona Vale, New South Wales, Australia Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Four leading British basketball clubs blocked from Europe as civil war deepens
The civil war engulfing British Basketball has intensified with the British Basketball Federation attempting to block four of the country’s leading clubs from competing in Europe next season.The Guardian has learned that the BBF is refusing to endorse applications for European places made by Manchester Basketball, London Lions, Newcastle Eagles and Bristol Flyers, which has put their participation at risk.In another development, it is being claimed that the BBF is threatening to thwart visa applications for overseas players for next season made by a number of Super League Basketball clubs.The BBF and clubs are at loggerheads after the governing body last month awarded a 15-year licence to operate a new Great Britain Basketball League from the 2026-27 season to an American consortium led by the former NBA executive Marshall Glickman. The nine existing SLB clubs are refusing to join, and have had their interim licence to run their own league next season suspended by the BBF
Munster’s monster hits shows why Queensland captain’s time has come
Moderation is often cited as the secret to a long and fulfilling life. Semi-regular exercise. The odd glass of red wine. Precious time with family and friends. And no more than a sprinkling of Cameron Munster
‘It’s going to be pretty monumental’: Harry Potter eyes Wallabies spot for Lions series | Jack Snape
No, Harry Potter – the Australian rugby union winger – hasn’t read the books. And the 27-year-old is unlikely to get to them anytime soon, given his focus on securing a precious place in the Wallabies’ team for the coming tour of the British and Irish Lions.“It’s a massive, once-in-every-12-years event,” he says in the days before the first Wallabies squad of the year is named on Thursday. “It’s going to be pretty monumental.”The Western Force player has perhaps the best name in Australian sport
State of Origin 2025 Game 2: Qld Maroons beat NSW Blues 26-24 – as it happened
All eyes now turn to Sydney and the Game 3 decider on Wednesday 9th of July. I will be back there to see who lifts the State of Origin shield. Until then, I’ll leave you with Jack Snape’s match report from tonight’s chaotic classic. Catch you soon.A quick look at social media and it appears NSW fans have some polite concerns with the refereeing of Ashley Klein
Queensland stay alive after holding off stirring NSW comeback in State of Origin classic
They had been all but written off, rudderless and adrift with a rattled coach at the helm, but a spirited Queensland kept the State of Origin shield alive after a wet, wild and often bizarre Game 2 victory over New South Wales in Perth.The memorable 26-24 triumph wasn’t certain until the final moments after a titanic Blues comeback – highlighted by a Brian To’o hat-trick – brought them back to within two points with eight minutes to go.Yet the Maroons’ heroic defence in the dying stages was capped off by new Maroons captain Cameron Munster and recalled backrower Kurt Capewell, having faced repeat sets, who forced an error from Blues prop Payne Haas with another gritty tackle.The Blues’ final set ended in an error from fullback Dylan Edwards, securing one of the great Origin victories and triggering a mix of relief and celebration for the weary Queenslanders.The Maroons had scored four tries to five for the Blues
Florida is now the Stanley Cup’s semi-permanent home. What does that mean for Canada?
“There are a lot of things I do not understand about this proposed expansion,” New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey wrote in December 1992, as the NHL wrapped up its annual Board of Governors meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. During that week’s meeting, the league received expansion proposals for two teams. One was for a team in Anaheim, California, backed by Disney. The other was for a team in Miami, Florida, put forward by waste management-and-VHS-video magnate, Wayne Huizenga. “What makes it think the Sun Belt is ready for all these hockey teams?” Vecsey wondered
Eric Cantona and Ella Toone help meld football and art for Manchester festival
At a festival, are you Elinor or Marianne? | Brief letters
Speaking out on Gaza: Australian creatives and arts organisations struggle to reconcile competing pressures
‘A giant parenting group’: how online comedians are making a living by laughing about the chaos of kids
Adam Hills: ‘I knew I should have gone to the King’s birthday but I really wanted to go to rugby training’
Andrew Lloyd Webber is ‘hot again’ –with help from new kids on musicals block