In Defence of Gary Marcus - by Reuben Adams - WTF is AGI

Sam: I call it the Addomatic! You speak two numbers into this microphone, and in less than half a jiffy it prints out their sum on this tape!

Gary: A bit wobbly? Sam, you can't be serious! You can't go around calling this the “Addomatic” — it can't add! It can't add three digit numbers! Whatever mechanisms you’ve employed in this machine of yours are clearly unsuitable. You need to start over. You should probably read my 2001 book ...

Sam: Behold, the Addomatic Two Thousand! Shift those empty mugs, Gary, I need to set this thing down. It’s quite a bit heavier than the previous model.

Sam: No, actually. You see the mechanisms you so derided last month were in fact perfectly adequate. They simply needed to be scaled up.

Gary: Quite substantially, I see. But Sam, I note we should really try it on something new. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could construct a machine that always spits out "1382" whatever goes in. May I?

Sam: Gary, Gary. You've moved your goal posts. Your complaint last month was about three digit numbers. It can do those now! And the Addomatic Three Thousand, which is only halfway built mind you, is already up to ten digits!

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