this post was submitted on 30 May 2025
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (6 children)

From McCarthy's reply:

My current answer to the question of when machines will reach human-level intelligence is that a precise calculation shows that we are between 1.7 and 3.1 Einsteins and .3 Manhattan Projects away from the goal.

omg this statement sounds 100% like something that could be posted today by Sam Altman on X. It's hititing exactly the sweet spot between appearing precise but also super vague, like Altman's "a few thousand days".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

It's sarcasm. The question asks for unwarranted precision and the response is a joke.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Imagining a guy who asks me a dumb question so I can let everyone know how I'd mock them with a joke answer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Spot on, yeah. Although as pointed out just above, this wasn't actually Weizenbaum's position. But in an era of letters to the editor, perhaps using a little rhetorical trickery to preempt a two-month-long back and forth might be excusable. It's a strawman nonetheless; but this letter is a screed.

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