Dietterich and Bryson push back on 'societies of models' analogy: 1000 copies can't build a toaster
tdietterich · x · 2026-10-15
Responding to Blaise Aguera y Arcas' claim that human intelligence is mostly societal — and that capable AI likewise operates as 'societies of models' — Thomas Dietterich (agreeing with Joanne Bryson) argues the analogy is broken: multiple AI systems lack complementary expertise. 'A 1000 copies of me would still not be able to build a toaster or get to the moon.'
A substantive debate about collective intelligence and whether homogeneous model copies resemble real social division of labor.
Related event: AI Researchers Debate Whether Intelligence Lives in Societies of Models(3 posts)→
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