Do Neural Networks Stumble Into Intelligence by Chance? A Reddit Deep-Dive on Architectural Determinism
Lost-Quiet-2021 · reddit · 2026-10-28
A Reddit long-post asks how deterministic neural network design really is. The author argues that despite experimental tuning of depth and size, networks may have "stumbled into" intelligence by chance rather than through understood mechanisms — like early humans making fire by friction without knowing the chemistry.
Key points: neural architectures differ vastly from the human brain, the only other intelligence we know; data centers draw terawatts yet remain far less efficient than a tiny fraction of a brain; a mathematical definition of intelligence likely wouldn't align 100% with the human brain either.
Open questions posed: does this inefficiency block AGI, or could recursive self-improvement keep switching paradigms and drive unbounded exponential gains?
More from AGI Musings
- AI pundit predicts the 2020s will be the last decade of widespread poverty — Dr_Singularity · 2026-10-28
- Essay: your bodymind runs on --dangerously-skip-permissions, and you never opted in — mimi10v3 · 2026-10-28
- Ethan Mollick: the "AI is all fake" conspiracy should have died, but won't — emollick · 2026-10-28
- Artisans refusing AI is a luxury the real economy can't afford — moultano · 2026-10-28
- Google researcher: refusing AI as an artisan is honorable but impractical for the economy — moultano · 2026-10-28
- Whop CEO: nearly 100K people earn monthly and AI agents now outnumber human users — LexSokolin · 2026-10-28