Does ChatGPT "Think"? A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective with Anna Ivanova - #620

This article summarizes a podcast episode featuring Anna Ivanova, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, discussing her paper on large language models (LLMs). The core focus is on differentiating between 'formal linguistic competence' (knowledge of language rules) and 'functional linguistic competence' (cognitive abilities for real-world language use) in LLMs. The discussion explores parallels with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the need for new benchmarks, and the potential of end-to-end trained LLMs to achieve functional competence. The article highlights the importance of considering cognitive aspects beyond just linguistic rules when evaluating LLMs.

• •The podcast episode discusses the cognitive aspects of LLMs.
• •It differentiates between formal and functional linguistic competence.
• •The conversation explores the potential of LLMs to achieve human-like language understanding.