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0 pointsIanCal7mo ago0 comments

They're moderately unreliable text copying machines if you need exact copying of long arbitrary strings. If that's what you want, don't use LLMs. I don't think they were ever really sold as that, and we have better tools for that.

On the other hand, I've had them easily build useful code, answer questions and debug issues complex enough to escape good engineers for at least several hours.

Depends what you want. They're also bad (for computers) at complex arithmetic off the bat, but then again we have calculators.

0 comments

goalieca7mo ago

> I don't think they were ever really sold as that, and we have better tools for that.

We have OpenAI calling gpt5 as having PhD level of intelligence and others like Anthropoc saying it will write all our code within months. Some are claiming it’s already writing 70%.

I say they are being sold as a magical do everything tool.

IanCalOP7mo ago

Intelligence isn't the same as "can exactly replicate text". I'm hopefully smarter than a calculator but it's more reliable at maths than me.

Also there's a huge gulf between "some people claim it can do X" and "it's useful". Altman promising something new doesn't decrease the usefulness of a model.

mbesto7mo ago

What you are describing is "dead reasoning zones".[0]

    "This isn't how humans work. Einstein never saw ARC grids, but he'd solve them instantly. Not because of prior knowledge, but because humans have consistent reasoning that transfers across domains. A logical economist becomes a logical programmer when they learn to code. They don't suddenly forget how to be consistent or deduce.

    But LLMs have "dead reasoning zones" — areas in their weights where logic doesn't work. Humans have dead knowledge zones (things we don't know), but not dead reasoning zones. Asking questions outside the training distribution is almost like an adversarial attack on the model."

https://jeremyberman.substack.com/p/how-i-got-the-highest-sc...

hitarpetar7mo ago

saddest goalpost ever

laterium7mo ago

They are lying, because their salary depends on them lying about it. Why does it even matter what they're saying? Why don't we listen to scientists, researchers, practicioners and the real users of the technology and stop repeating what the CEOs are saying?

The things they're saying are technically correct, the best kind of correct. The models beat human PhDs on certain benchmarks of knowledge and reasoning. They may write 70% of the easiest code in some specific scenario. It doesn't matter. They're useful tools that can make you slightly more productive. That's it.

When you see on tv that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend a toothpaste what do you do? Do you claim that brushing your teeth is a useless hype that's being pushed by big-tooth because they're exaggerating or misrepresenting what that means?

culll_kuprey7mo ago

> When you see on tv that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend a toothpaste what do you do? Do you claim that brushing your teeth is a useless hype that's being pushed by big-tooth because they're exaggerating or misrepresenting what that means?

Only after schizophrenic dentists go around telling people that brushing their teeth is going to lead to a post-scarcity Star Trek world.

2 more replies

grey-area7mo ago

So questioning the utility of LLMs for knowledge work is now akin to a conspiracy theory?

1 more reply

buildbot7mo ago

Would you hire a PhD to copy URLs by hand? Would them having PhD make it less likely they’d make a mistake than an high school student doing the same?

parineum7mo ago

A high school student would use copy/paste and the urls would be perfect duplicates..

2 more replies

goalieca7mo ago

Grad students and even post docs often do a lot of this manual labour for data entry and formatting. Been there, done that.

1 more reply

hitarpetar7mo ago

I would not hire anyone for a role that requires computer use who does not know how to use copy/paste

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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goalieca7mo ago

> I don't think they were ever really sold as that, and we have better tools for that.

We have OpenAI calling gpt5 as having PhD level of intelligence and others like Anthropoc saying it will write all our code within months. Some are claiming it’s already writing 70%.

I say they are being sold as a magical do everything tool.

IanCalOP7mo ago

Intelligence isn't the same as "can exactly replicate text". I'm hopefully smarter than a calculator but it's more reliable at maths than me.

Also there's a huge gulf between "some people claim it can do X" and "it's useful". Altman promising something new doesn't decrease the usefulness of a model.

mbesto7mo ago

What you are describing is "dead reasoning zones".[0]

    "This isn't how humans work. Einstein never saw ARC grids, but he'd solve them instantly. Not because of prior knowledge, but because humans have consistent reasoning that transfers across domains. A logical economist becomes a logical programmer when they learn to code. They don't suddenly forget how to be consistent or deduce.

    But LLMs have "dead reasoning zones" — areas in their weights where logic doesn't work. Humans have dead knowledge zones (things we don't know), but not dead reasoning zones. Asking questions outside the training distribution is almost like an adversarial attack on the model."

https://jeremyberman.substack.com/p/how-i-got-the-highest-sc...

hitarpetar7mo ago

saddest goalpost ever

laterium7mo ago

culll_kuprey7mo ago

Only after schizophrenic dentists go around telling people that brushing their teeth is going to lead to a post-scarcity Star Trek world.

2 more replies

grey-area7mo ago

So questioning the utility of LLMs for knowledge work is now akin to a conspiracy theory?

1 more reply

buildbot7mo ago

Would you hire a PhD to copy URLs by hand? Would them having PhD make it less likely they’d make a mistake than an high school student doing the same?

parineum7mo ago

A high school student would use copy/paste and the urls would be perfect duplicates..

2 more replies

goalieca7mo ago

Grad students and even post docs often do a lot of this manual labour for data entry and formatting. Been there, done that.

1 more reply

hitarpetar7mo ago

I would not hire anyone for a role that requires computer use who does not know how to use copy/paste

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse