Could Monkeys Really Type All of Shakespeare?
Could Monkeys Really Type All of Shakespeare?
A new paper by mathematician Stephen Woodcock challenges the 'infinite monkey theorem,' which posits that monkeys with typewriters could eventually produce Shakespeare's works. The study concludes that, given the finite lifetime of the universe, it's practically impossible for a limited number of monkeys to replicate even a short book, let alone the complete works of Shakespeare. The paper uses this thought experiment to comment on the real-world limitations of randomness and chaos, with implications for fields like artificial intelligence.
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perhaps a bit of a clickbait, but it ends with a zinger, asking about when “Do we become the monkeys to the A.I.?”
i appreciate the attempt to bring a thought experiment down to reality. though i'm not sure it delivers enough. monkeys are unlikely to ever write great works of art in our universe, but this doesn't have strong implications for human made super robot monkeys writing such great works.
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