The metaphors of artificial intelligence

Reproduced with permission of author. Mitchell examines how the metaphors we use to describe AI systems—from "neural networks" to "hallucinations" to "understanding"—shape our expectations and interpretations of these technologies. Drawing on Terrence Sejnowski's reflection that a threshold was crossed when LLMs began communicating "in an eerily human way," the piece argues that better metaphors are needed to accurately characterize what AI systems are and, crucially, what they are not.