Module IV·Article III·~1 min read
Language and Artificial Intelligence: GPT, Understanding, and Meaning
Language, Identity, and the Future
Turn this article into a podcast
Pick voices, format, length — AI generates the audio
Large Language Models
GPT, Claude, Gemini — these are "large language models" (LLM), trained on vast corpora of texts. They generate the statistically probable next token. They do not "understand" language in the sense that a human does — but what does it mean to "understand"?
John Searle proposed the thought experiment "the Chinese room" (1980): a person in a room manipulates symbols according to rules, producing replies in Chinese without knowing Chinese. This is a metaphor for syntax without semantics — manipulation of signs without meaning. Is an LLM a "Chinese room"?
Philosophical Stakes
If an LLM can generate meaningful text without understanding, this challenges theories of meaning based on intentionality and experience. Or does it show that "understanding" is a functional property that can be realized in different substrates?
This is not an academic question: the answer depends on how we regulate AI, how we evaluate its output, how we build interaction with it.
Question for reflection: Does the emergence of LLMs change what it means to "be literate"? How should the education system change in response to this technology?
§ Act · what next