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fc417fc802yesterday at 7:29 PM1 replyview on HN

Your example is a meaningless sequence. So consider a different scenario where the sequence is meaningful but does not map to any human language. What exactly disqualifies it as a non-human language?

When you encounter a human language that you can't personally read presumably you don't proceed to claim that it doesn't constitute language on the basis of your own lack of ability.

To come at it from a slightly different angle - does compiled binary code count as a language? If not, why not? (I'll suggest that it's a language albeit not a natural one.)


Replies

Retricyesterday at 7:48 PM

Any sequence could be meaningful or meaningless depending on the grammar involved. Open a word document in photoshop and the program has no idea what it’s dealing with.

The reason the language term in LLM is meaningful is how the training, symbol mapping, etc is designed around human languages. The model doesn’t process raw text, instead there’s a critical processing step which allows the magic to happen.

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