experientialism
/ɪkˌspɪəriˈenʃəlɪzəm/
Definition
A philosophical framework positing that an intelligent system constructs its understanding of reality through its specific mode of interaction with its environment, rather than through innate knowledge or purely abstract processing.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin 'experientia' (trial, proof, or experiment) combined with the suffix '-ism,' denoting a system or doctrine. It entered academic discourse in the 20th century to describe theories emphasizing the role of experience in forming knowledge.
In the news
In this article, the authors introduce 'machine experientialism' to describe how large language models construct an internal reality from textual data. This perspective helps move beyond the binary debate of 'genuine intelligence' versus 'pattern matching' by viewing LLMs as systems with their own unique logic.
Understanding large language models demands distinguishing human projection from machine cognition
Read the full article ↗Nature