The Illusion of Intelligence

We are living in probability-infested times.

Text models predict the next word. Image models fill in noise. Code models autocomplete syntax. And all of them do so without true understanding.

This doesn’t just lead to hallucinated facts; It leads to hallucinated decisions, with very real consequences.

What We Will Explore

Generative AI is the new kid in town and everyday, we hear more people claiming years and years of experience in it (as well as tons of experience in Agentic AI and god knows what else). Anyway, it is not possible to ignore the beast so, that alone means it deserves its own category. Having said that, let me be clear that, in the right hands (or as those in the hood call it, with the right prompt) it can be a wonderful tool that can massively boost our productivity.

I am actually a big fan, as you will see throughout the coming posts, but, I refuse to ignore its deficiencies or sell perceived capabilities that are simply not there yet (and some of those capabilities are unlikely to ever be there as those are tightly coupled with the initial assumptions and the overall approach). Think of it this way, if real AI (or AGI as some will call it) is compared to Relativity, then the current Generative version of AI is equivalent to Newtonian Mechanics (I love Newton, but there are problems that his wonderful laws of Mechanics are just not equipped to answer, hence the birth of Relativity and the emergence of a certain Albert Einstein).

Now, enough of this. For this introductory post, let’s say that under Generative AI category, we will cover many topics including the following:

• Why relying exclusively on probabilistic logic is both risky and regressive,
• What AI Agents vs. Agentic AI really means.
• Silly but illuminating examples of probabilistic failure in daily life that can help in our overall understanding of Generative AI, its strengths and its limitations,
• How we might use Quantum logic, structured data, and human values to rebuild trust.

This space is crowded with hype. Our aim here is to teach clearly, challenge assumptions, and reclaim agency.

The above tagline was originally written as “Our aim here is to cut through the hype and some monumental BS so that we can better understand our assumptions and see more clearly.” The end result, however, is a revision by ChatGPT:-). I think we can all agree that ChatGPT’s output is more succinct and certainly more polite so, hats off to ChatGPT here. Like I said, if you know how to use these toys, they find a way to please you.

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Related posts:
Quantum Computing | AI Ethics | The Hidden Thread