4 ms·

Hmm…no, I’m not doubting the value of the interface. I’m asking what’s the “killer app”. Maybe I should just ask ChatGPT to explain it to me…

joe_the_user 4y ago
It seems like the use of ChatGPT is something like "microtasks". Little things a given person could do but would rather not and so is able to delegate to an automatic thing whose output they can verify. It seems like it's potential as of today is increasing or seeming to increase the productivity of a segment of white collar workers in the fashion that email and the web did (or might not have). A lot of researchers might not have need for this and so not understand this appeal of this.
- cgearhart 4y ago
  Thanks for your comment, I think this is actually very helpful framing! It at least gives me something more tangible to think about—“micro tasks”.
  - mos_basik 4y ago
    I, too, have been experimenting a bit to see if/how an LLM might help me. This microtask framing jives with my experience. One of the best examples so far for me (and it's truly micro) was at grocery store. Friend trying to figure out how big of a rice bag to get and avoid not finishing it before a long trip coming up. She knew she ate a couple of cups dry a week. "I eat 2 cups dry rice per week. Can I finish a 25lb bag in less than 4 months?" "Yes" (it did show its work). One shot, perfect response. I know this kind of computational thing is what WolframAlpha was for, but that wasn't nearly as reliable. I know I could figure it out myself, but I'd need to find a reasonable figure for the density of rice and probably do some imperial metric conversions and generally futz around for longer than one would want to stand in front of a pallet of rice bags.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      50 cups of rice in a 25 lb bag, 4 months = 16 weeks = 32 cups at 2 cups / week. I think there will be some rice left. Maybe this is one of those examples where this tool gives a confident and wrong answer even when it shows its homework?
      - pixl97 4y ago
        Honestly this sounds more like a place for GPT/Wolfram API than just LLM alone.
    - deleted 4y ago
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    - deleted 4y ago
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    - JohnFen 4y ago
      Really? You're using ChatGPT to do basic math you could easily do in your head?
bionhoward 4y ago
It’s programming. The thing is really great at programming, and everything else is icing on the cake. They already got my $20 a month lol
- copperx 4y ago
  Bingo. No programmer seems to want to program without it anymore. Sounds like a killer app to me.
- deleted 4y ago
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- Joeboy 4y ago
  Anecdotally, I've had more writers (screenwriters and copywriters) tell me they're using ChatGPT than programmers. I think people here might underestimate how big a deal it is in "the real world".
- valenterry 4y ago
  Not really programming but generelly producing text (or maybe generally certain structure like ASTs at some point). Programming is a subset. I expect that this will move lots of things into the world of text that weren't before.
safety1st 4y ago
If we're characterizing LLMs as a kind of input interface I'd point out that the first GUI was released in 1973 by Xerox and the first commercially successful GUI was released in 1984 with the Mac 128K. It took 11 years for someone to answer this question. Sure things move faster these days, but we're still only a couple of months in. With blockchains there was also a fundamental technological breakthrough (I'd argue less revolutionary than LLMs). The problem was that everyone jumped the gun and proclaimed the killer app had been discovered too soon: cryptocurrency's incarnations to date have yet to demonstrate much utility apart from being a vehicle for speculation. Nakomoto invented the first distributed blockchain in 2008...

joe_the_user 4y ago

It seems like the use of ChatGPT is something like "microtasks". Little things a given person could do but would rather not and so is able to delegate to an automatic thing whose output they can verify. It seems like it's potential as of today is increasing or seeming to increase the productivity of a segment of white collar workers in the fashion that email and the web did (or might not have). A lot of researchers might not have need for this and so not understand this appeal of this.

cgearhart 4y ago
Thanks for your comment, I think this is actually very helpful framing! It at least gives me something more tangible to think about—“micro tasks”.
- mos_basik 4y ago
  I, too, have been experimenting a bit to see if/how an LLM might help me. This microtask framing jives with my experience. One of the best examples so far for me (and it's truly micro) was at grocery store. Friend trying to figure out how big of a rice bag to get and avoid not finishing it before a long trip coming up. She knew she ate a couple of cups dry a week. "I eat 2 cups dry rice per week. Can I finish a 25lb bag in less than 4 months?" "Yes" (it did show its work). One shot, perfect response. I know this kind of computational thing is what WolframAlpha was for, but that wasn't nearly as reliable. I know I could figure it out myself, but I'd need to find a reasonable figure for the density of rice and probably do some imperial metric conversions and generally futz around for longer than one would want to stand in front of a pallet of rice bags.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    50 cups of rice in a 25 lb bag, 4 months = 16 weeks = 32 cups at 2 cups / week. I think there will be some rice left. Maybe this is one of those examples where this tool gives a confident and wrong answer even when it shows its homework?
    - pixl97 4y ago
      Honestly this sounds more like a place for GPT/Wolfram API than just LLM alone.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    Really? You're using ChatGPT to do basic math you could easily do in your head?

bionhoward 4y ago

It’s programming. The thing is really great at programming, and everything else is icing on the cake. They already got my $20 a month lol

copperx 4y ago
Bingo. No programmer seems to want to program without it anymore. Sounds like a killer app to me.
deleted 4y ago
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Joeboy 4y ago
Anecdotally, I've had more writers (screenwriters and copywriters) tell me they're using ChatGPT than programmers. I think people here might underestimate how big a deal it is in "the real world".
valenterry 4y ago
Not really programming but generelly producing text (or maybe generally certain structure like ASTs at some point). Programming is a subset. I expect that this will move lots of things into the world of text that weren't before.

safety1st 4y ago

If we're characterizing LLMs as a kind of input interface I'd point out that the first GUI was released in 1973 by Xerox and the first commercially successful GUI was released in 1984 with the Mac 128K. It took 11 years for someone to answer this question. Sure things move faster these days, but we're still only a couple of months in. With blockchains there was also a fundamental technological breakthrough (I'd argue less revolutionary than LLMs). The problem was that everyone jumped the gun and proclaimed the killer app had been discovered too soon: cryptocurrency's incarnations to date have yet to demonstrate much utility apart from being a vehicle for speculation. Nakomoto invented the first distributed blockchain in 2008...