Post

If you stipulate that the CNC machine is "cutting" (or even "drilling", "milling", and "tapping"), then you've begged the question.

Thomas Effing Paine@tom-effing-paine.bsky.social

If you stipulate that what it's doing is "reasoning" (or even "writing", "drawing", and "talking"), then you've begged the question. In addition to knowing no philosophy of mind, you have some science fiction to catch up on; nothing is happening that didn't happen in SF like a century ago.

10/10/26, 10:56 pm1 repost22 likes

Thomas Effing Paine

@tom-effing-paine.bsky.social

If "cutting" requires the intention to cut, then that machine doesn't cut; a person cuts with it. If "cutting" doesn't require the intention to cut, then there's no analogy. Nobody questions whether a machine can wiggle so that lights blink or ink is on a page or air woggles.

Ryan "UnionToTuple" Cavanaugh

@searyanc.dev

Correct! We have demonstrated empirically that writing requires the same amount of intent as cutting. And since no one prior to AI felt it useful to say "a table saw cannot cut" then we can tell anyone saying "AI cannot write" is doing it for useless semantic reasons

Thomas Effing Paine

@tom-effing-paine.bsky.social

You remind me of the guy who says that we can tell what pi is if we just measure a circle and its diameter with strings and compare.

Ryan "UnionToTuple" Cavanaugh

@searyanc.dev

I'd use a measuring tape, which to be fair is a misnomer since tapes can't actually "measure"

Cody

@cody.chaos.net.nz

To be fair, a lot of people did like to say that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". On the other hand, I thought that was ridiculous sophistry back then too.

Ian Bicking

@ianbicking.org

The whole objection is missing the point of the original post. If in the past we were suddenly introduced to the systems we see now, would it make us question some metaphysical beliefs? I think so, but I’m not certain. But the post isn’t asking about some Greater Truth, only imagining a perspective