In this context that isn't the right question.
replyRather one should ask "Would you be able to answer any question and fulfill any request about the Grand Canyon given to you by others in a way that will be indistinguishable from someone who has been to the Grand Canyon"
No way. You get to the rim and only then you realize how huge it is. And then you still have to go down into the canyon.
replyI think I could get very close via video. But that depends on a lot of my non-canyon experience moving around the world, and LLMs are very flawed in their ability to input video, so I think they would not get nearly as close.
replyThe experience of every famous place I've visited after watching extensive video before hand, has been very different from what I imagined from the video.
replyI've been to a few natural wonders (including the Grand Canyon) that I saw in advance on video. At least for me it isn't close at all. Even if audiovisual elements could be near-perfectly reproduced by video (imo not even close with modern tech, no screen is capturing the brilliance of sunlight), you aren't capturing the temperature, the feel of wind or rain, the smell of the plants around you, etc.
replyWell, I've never been to the Grand Canyon myself, but what you said perfectly aligns with my intuition.
replyAlso, you touched on how even modern tech still falls short of the true experience. Just look at the history of motion picture since the early 1900s. We have added sound, color, bigger screens, faster refresh rates, more pixels, 3D (sort of), surround sound, spatial audio, IMAX, etc. Almost seems like video leaves a lot to be desired.
But you already know those feelings from being outside elsewhere. You get a unique combination there, but that's only worth so much.
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