Llms are just math — proof that goats in age of empires can replace gpt

microsoft researcher adrian de wynter constructed a functioning neural network inside age of empires ii, using goats on different terrain as binary bits to perform logic operations like xnor and and. this experiment proves that the intelligence of llms is purely computational and independent of the substrate, meaning a system built from legos or people texting would produce the same outputs as gpt. an analysis of 315 ai papers found that 57% assume models have human-like traits like fear or empathy, which de wynter argues leads to circular reasoning in research. the critique highlights that the perceived humanity of chatbots is an artifact of low latency and chat interfaces, not the underlying math.