Training a non-linguistic intelligence reveals the limits of attunement.
Evidence
Illuminates Communication/AI: Macdonald’s memoir of training a goshawk after her father’s death is, secretly, a study in cross-species training and the asymmetries of communication. Placed beside debates on RLHF and animal-AI analogies, the book illuminates what it costs to attune oneself to a non-linguistic intelligence. The hawk Mabel is, finally, a creature whose training Macdonald can never fully achieve — a parable about the limits of any communicational discipline. — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 3356
Categorization
- XREF: Connects directly to RLHF debates in AI alignment — the goshawk is a non-linguistic intelligence one can never fully control. — connects to: An artificial mind learns to interpret human communication through restricted observation — , The Braided Reading EPUB: 5-Year…, 109; Training models on absurd datasets exposes AI’s true capabilities — , The Braided Reading EPUB: 5-Year…, 1863; Machines could learn human values by observing behavior instead of being programmed — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 1086
- SEED: Angle: H Is for Hawk as an empirical case study for AI alignment theory — what partial attunement costs.
- FICTION: A creature whose training is never completed is a resonant motif for stories about mastery and submission.
Related
- An artificial mind learns to interpret human communication through restricted observation (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- An artificial mind learns to interpret human communication through restricted observation
#corroborates(0.55) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 109 - Training models on absurd datasets exposes AI’s true capabilities
#corroborates(0.50) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 1863 - Machines could learn human values by observing behavior instead of being programmed
#corroborates(0.45) — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 1086