"LLMs can't invent solutions" debate: von Neumann was also a giant memory-retrieval system
zetalyrae · x · 2026-09-26
A debate over whether LLMs can truly create. Quoting the claim that LLMs are "a system with gigantic memory and retrieval ability, not one that can invent solutions to new problems," teortaxesTex counters that von Neumann was also a gigantic memory-and-retrieval system, yet that's often a mark of creative genius in humans. His core intuition: LLMs are shapes, not code or mechanics — weights describe the shape of the mind's representation, facts are recomputed on the fly rather than stored, and even engram-style memory modules contain no strings. menhguin adds that inventing solutions to novel problems isn't a bar even 10% of college graduates clear.
Related event: Debate Erupts Over LeCun's Claim That LLMs Are Mere Memory Retrieval(3 posts)→
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