4 ms·

What's the difference between "hallucinating" and just getting something wrong? Hallucinations are where you hear, see, smell, taste or feel things that appear

What's the difference between "hallucinating" and just getting something wrong? Hallucinations are where you hear, see, smell, taste or feel things that appear to be real but only exist in your mind. Get medical help if you or someone else have hallucinations. Why do we say LLMs hallucinate and why do people keep parroting the same thing "oh humans hallucinate", do we really hallucinate all the time? I can think of only one time a healthy adult hallucinates and it's not sitting around drinking a cup of tea.

SanderNL 4y ago
The word has a slightly different meaning here (confabulation) and more akin to the witness example: confidently telling what you think is true, but it turned out to be complete shit. It’s not about humans intentionally lying or truly hallucinating like on drugs. It’s about confidently thinking they are right about something which turns out not to be true. I mean, if I say it like this is like humanity’s core business.
- ChatGTP 4y ago
  Nice explanation. I think this: "It’s about confidently thinking they are right about something which turns out not to be true." Unpopular opinion, most people who say this are actually not great listeners and don't take the time to understand peoples messages, so it sounds like "everyone is wrong or dumb", I find, nearly always, if I inquire more deeply, most peoples views or opinions are perfectly valid or they at least have good reasons for believing in something I would otherwise dismiss as false. So it's not that they're necessarily hallucinating, they're just got good reasons for having an alternate take on reality. For an LLM, the truth is just an approximation of what it's been fed. I think for living creatures with past experience of their own, the ability to understand reality is more complex and nuanced and of course, includes their unique experiences. My observation has been that nearly all intellectual views, opinions and "facts" are in some ways approximations. Wrong and and waiting to be revised at some stage.

SanderNL 4y ago

The word has a slightly different meaning here (confabulation) and more akin to the witness example: confidently telling what you think is true, but it turned out to be complete shit. It’s not about humans intentionally lying or truly hallucinating like on drugs. It’s about confidently thinking they are right about something which turns out not to be true. I mean, if I say it like this is like humanity’s core business.

ChatGTP 4y ago
Nice explanation. I think this: "It’s about confidently thinking they are right about something which turns out not to be true." Unpopular opinion, most people who say this are actually not great listeners and don't take the time to understand peoples messages, so it sounds like "everyone is wrong or dumb", I find, nearly always, if I inquire more deeply, most peoples views or opinions are perfectly valid or they at least have good reasons for believing in something I would otherwise dismiss as false. So it's not that they're necessarily hallucinating, they're just got good reasons for having an alternate take on reality. For an LLM, the truth is just an approximation of what it's been fed. I think for living creatures with past experience of their own, the ability to understand reality is more complex and nuanced and of course, includes their unique experiences. My observation has been that nearly all intellectual views, opinions and "facts" are in some ways approximations. Wrong and and waiting to be revised at some stage.