"Computers Can't Really Do Arithmetic": A 1940s Debate That Mirrors Today's LLM Arguments
debreuil · x · 2026-10-23
Steven Lacker shares a passage from early computing history: critics of the ACE computer argued it would never truly be "doing arithmetic," only imitating it — an input for 67+45 could be made to guarantee an output of 112, but there were no "numbers" inside the machine, only pulses.
The passage draws a striking parallel to today's debates over whether LLMs merely imitate rather than understand, showing this line of skepticism dates back to the dawn of computing.
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