LLMs have a lot of advantages over humans for making conversation.
Even forgetting the main advantages (24x7 availability, and ability to talk about basically any topic for as much or little time as you want), they also get basically every obscure reference/analogy/metaphor and how it ties in to the topic at hand.
Usually when you're talking to another person, the intersection of obscure references you can confidently make (with the assumption your partner will understand them) is much more limited. I enjoy making those random connections so it's a real luxury to have a conversation partner that gets them all.
Another one is simply the time and attention they can bring to things a normal person would never have the time for. I'd not want to talk someone's ear off, unless I was paying them and even then, I don't want to subject someone to topics of only interest to myself.
(Edit: I suppose it's the final apotheosis of the atomised individual leaving all traces of community behind)
> final apotheosis of the atomised individual leaving all traces of community behind
It's not. In 10 years this is going to look as dumb as the biohacker wetware bros surgically embedding RFID chips in their hands. There's much more to communication (and life) than receiving pantomimed validation for your obscure references. You could be throwing away opportunities to connect with another person who would genuinely share your interests and help you grow as a person. Having a useless magnet in your fingertip is going to seem brilliant compared to ending up socially withdrawn and mentally unwell because you traded human companionship for a chat bot.
I think it's a much bigger social phenomenon already. Social talk will become even more a matter of performance, positioning and signalling, rather than something pursued for enjoyment of the thing itself.
Maybe I'm just weird but LLM conversations seem generally more interesting and enlightening, even in these early iterations of the technology.
Nobody is talking about my car collection and maintenance plans for half an hour, for instance. Literally. I can expound on the topic, get ideas, ponder things. Much better than the old ways.
Car talk is one of the most broadly relatable topics available for men to talk about, man. It’s right up there with sports, stuff blowing up, and attractive women. There’s something else to it if you can’t find someone that will chitchat about cars. I’m not even a car guy but I’d happily talk to someone passionate about restoring classics or something. I mean this sincerely and not to be snide, you might find that some personal growth unlocks a lot for you when it comes to socializing and community. Don’t throw your humanity away to become some chat bot gargoyle.
It's better than posting into the void (i.e. one-way sending) and lurking on forums (one-way receiving). That's the usual way to approach deep subjects online, there's no continuity. And you can't go into depth on a subject of choice with an actual associate, because there's always mismatch of interests.
Really? I mean this might just be a function of your friend group. I have some long time friends and we'll talk about that weird stuff for hours. Probably going to be hard with new friends or people you don't have a good relationship with but these are very human things. We all have cars so those conversations come up. Similarly things like dealing with investments, 401ks, health plans, relationships, or fucking petty shit like if In-N-Out is better than Five Guys or not (it is, and I'll fight you over this).
Not every friend group is like that. Different friends offer different things. We're all people though. I mean you can't have a relationship around just talking to people over something like that because that is dehumanizing, but I disagree that you can't talk about that stuff with people. Frankly, I think what's more common is that people are just afraid of opening those subjects. Like we've all had that experience in school where the teacher is talking about something and everybody is confused but nobody speaks up because they're afraid to look dumb or feel like they're disrupting. That class of situations doesn't just go away lol.
I'm not saying don't use the LLMs. Hell, it's like saying don't use Reddit. Reddit will often give you bad advice too, but that doesn't mean it can't also be helpful. But my concern is really that you feel like you can't talk to people about those types of things. We're social creatures. There's no "atomised individual". You can't make it through this world without reliance upon others. Unless you're doing literally everything by yourself from scratch, you're an active part of society. The only difference is your interpretation.
So with that, let me say too that there's a lot of advantages to humans and conversations with them. Not being available 24/7 can be advantageous. Forces you to think on your own and helps facilitate better conversations when they do become available. Sometimes you need answers immediately, but that's rare and often decisions are better informed after thinking rather than through reliance on others. The latter only works if there's non-nuanced objective answers. I'm also someone who makes a lot of obscure references. But that's okay if others don't pick up on them. The rarity of that happening actually is a good thing and helps form relationships, as it is a strong signal we have some common ground. When it is rare it is special. And when not recognized I have the opportunity to share things I enjoy with others. Then they also have the opportunity to share things with me! I don't want clones of me, that provides no opportunity for growth, it only leads to a narrower view (which is the opposite of growth!). Also, humans can be rude, mean, push back, and be confrontational. It always sucks but it isn't always wrong either. I'm assuming you're human (hell, it'll be true even if you're machine lol), so you're not perfect. Sometimes our own egos get in the way and that confrontation is necessary. In fact, this is an aspect that is related to the psychosis/danger igleria mentioned. You can't just wrap yourself up in safety blankets and avoid confrontation. As much as we should try to make life more enjoyable and better the unfortunate truth is that often that requires temporary discomfort. If everything was easy everyone would do it. So even in the times where that discomfort doesn't directly lead to future "rewards" it still provides learning experiences that allow you to be more equipped for the (more frequently occurring) times where it does. It is only your perspective/interpretation.
LLMs have a lot of advantages over humans for making conversation.
Even forgetting the main advantages (24x7 availability, and ability to talk about basically any topic for as much or little time as you want), they also get basically every obscure reference/analogy/metaphor and how it ties in to the topic at hand.
Usually when you're talking to another person, the intersection of obscure references you can confidently make (with the assumption your partner will understand them) is much more limited. I enjoy making those random connections so it's a real luxury to have a conversation partner that gets them all.
Another one is simply the time and attention they can bring to things a normal person would never have the time for. I'd not want to talk someone's ear off, unless I was paying them and even then, I don't want to subject someone to topics of only interest to myself.
(Edit: I suppose it's the final apotheosis of the atomised individual leaving all traces of community behind)
> final apotheosis of the atomised individual leaving all traces of community behind
It's not. In 10 years this is going to look as dumb as the biohacker wetware bros surgically embedding RFID chips in their hands. There's much more to communication (and life) than receiving pantomimed validation for your obscure references. You could be throwing away opportunities to connect with another person who would genuinely share your interests and help you grow as a person. Having a useless magnet in your fingertip is going to seem brilliant compared to ending up socially withdrawn and mentally unwell because you traded human companionship for a chat bot.
I think it's a much bigger social phenomenon already. Social talk will become even more a matter of performance, positioning and signalling, rather than something pursued for enjoyment of the thing itself.
Maybe I'm just weird but LLM conversations seem generally more interesting and enlightening, even in these early iterations of the technology.
Honestly, it sounds like you need a therapist, not a LLM. I'm not saying this as some quip, I'm saying this because what you wrote is that concerning.
Nobody is talking about my car collection and maintenance plans for half an hour, for instance. Literally. I can expound on the topic, get ideas, ponder things. Much better than the old ways.
Car talk is one of the most broadly relatable topics available for men to talk about, man. It’s right up there with sports, stuff blowing up, and attractive women. There’s something else to it if you can’t find someone that will chitchat about cars. I’m not even a car guy but I’d happily talk to someone passionate about restoring classics or something. I mean this sincerely and not to be snide, you might find that some personal growth unlocks a lot for you when it comes to socializing and community. Don’t throw your humanity away to become some chat bot gargoyle.
It's better than posting into the void (i.e. one-way sending) and lurking on forums (one-way receiving). That's the usual way to approach deep subjects online, there's no continuity. And you can't go into depth on a subject of choice with an actual associate, because there's always mismatch of interests.
And here we all are enjoyably sharing with humans our interest and experiences in using LLMs!
I disagree! This is arguing on the internet aka struggle for dominance. (See what I did there)
[dead]
Really? I mean this might just be a function of your friend group. I have some long time friends and we'll talk about that weird stuff for hours. Probably going to be hard with new friends or people you don't have a good relationship with but these are very human things. We all have cars so those conversations come up. Similarly things like dealing with investments, 401ks, health plans, relationships, or fucking petty shit like if In-N-Out is better than Five Guys or not (it is, and I'll fight you over this).
Not every friend group is like that. Different friends offer different things. We're all people though. I mean you can't have a relationship around just talking to people over something like that because that is dehumanizing, but I disagree that you can't talk about that stuff with people. Frankly, I think what's more common is that people are just afraid of opening those subjects. Like we've all had that experience in school where the teacher is talking about something and everybody is confused but nobody speaks up because they're afraid to look dumb or feel like they're disrupting. That class of situations doesn't just go away lol.
I'm not saying don't use the LLMs. Hell, it's like saying don't use Reddit. Reddit will often give you bad advice too, but that doesn't mean it can't also be helpful. But my concern is really that you feel like you can't talk to people about those types of things. We're social creatures. There's no "atomised individual". You can't make it through this world without reliance upon others. Unless you're doing literally everything by yourself from scratch, you're an active part of society. The only difference is your interpretation.
So with that, let me say too that there's a lot of advantages to humans and conversations with them. Not being available 24/7 can be advantageous. Forces you to think on your own and helps facilitate better conversations when they do become available. Sometimes you need answers immediately, but that's rare and often decisions are better informed after thinking rather than through reliance on others. The latter only works if there's non-nuanced objective answers. I'm also someone who makes a lot of obscure references. But that's okay if others don't pick up on them. The rarity of that happening actually is a good thing and helps form relationships, as it is a strong signal we have some common ground. When it is rare it is special. And when not recognized I have the opportunity to share things I enjoy with others. Then they also have the opportunity to share things with me! I don't want clones of me, that provides no opportunity for growth, it only leads to a narrower view (which is the opposite of growth!). Also, humans can be rude, mean, push back, and be confrontational. It always sucks but it isn't always wrong either. I'm assuming you're human (hell, it'll be true even if you're machine lol), so you're not perfect. Sometimes our own egos get in the way and that confrontation is necessary. In fact, this is an aspect that is related to the psychosis/danger igleria mentioned. You can't just wrap yourself up in safety blankets and avoid confrontation. As much as we should try to make life more enjoyable and better the unfortunate truth is that often that requires temporary discomfort. If everything was easy everyone would do it. So even in the times where that discomfort doesn't directly lead to future "rewards" it still provides learning experiences that allow you to be more equipped for the (more frequently occurring) times where it does. It is only your perspective/interpretation.
> LLMs have a lot of advantages over humans for making conversation.
A lot of those advantages seem to be what enables an LLM to keep pushing people into delusion or triggering latent mental issues : https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/urban-survival/20250...
Yes, but when I ask it to answer a speculative question it doesn't just respond like Siri does with "Sorry, I can't answer that!"
Of course, every technology comes with risks.