The Great Chatbot Debate

Chatbots based on large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, answer sophisticated questions, pass professional exams, analyze texts, generate everything from poems to computer programs, and more. But is there genuine understanding behind what LLMs can do? Do they really understand our world? Or, are they a triumph of mathematics and masses of data and calculations simulating true understanding?

Join CHM, in partnership with IEEE Spectrum, for a fundamental debate on the nature of today’s AI: Do LLMs demonstrate genuine understanding, the “sparks” of true intelligence, or are they “stochastic parrots,” lacking understanding and meaning? 

IEEE Spectrum Senior Editor Eliza Strickland will moderate a debate between University of Washington computational linguist Emily Bender—who, with her coauthors, established the term “stochastic parrot" in a major 2021 paper and is coauthor of the forthcoming book The AI Con—and OpenAI's Sébastien Bubeck, former VP for AI and distinguished scientist at Microsoft, and the lead author of an influential 2023 paper about LLMs, “Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence.”

What to Expect:

• A lively debate on a profound issue central to the nature of artificial intelligence
• A rare opportunity to hear from a distinguished AI researcher, Sébastien Bubeck, and a noted AI critic, Emily Bender, moderated by IEEE Spectrum's Eliza Strickland
• The chance to participate by submitting questions and voting on the winner of the debate

Sponsorship

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. 

Event Partner

This program is ​coordinated in partnership with IEEE Spectrum.

Host or Publisher Computer History Museum