4 ms·

> LLMs, in my opinion, are on average better at writing copy than humans. A disturbingly high proportion of US adults (at least in the US—I don't know how this

by bamfly 3y ago

> LLMs, in my opinion, are on average better at writing copy than humans. A disturbingly high proportion of US adults (at least in the US—I don't know how this looks in other countries) barely count as literate. Perhaps half[1]. Most of the rest aren't a ton better, and can't write worth a damn. I think "on average" understates the case: at least 90% of US adults would probably get better results by passing their writing through ChatGPT, than not. Most of that remaining 10% would also see improvements from ChatGPT, except for writing they've put a great deal of effort into. It's very good at cleaning up writing, and/or tuning it to be better-suited to some purpose than the original was. In fact, a large majority of readers in the US would probably benefit from passing what they read through ChatGPT and having it summarize it concisely, in very simple terms. The world makes a lot more sense, to those who grew up taking to the written word as naturally as a duck to water, when we appreciate that the world runs on the written word, yet most people are terrible readers and worse writers. [1] "According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level." And, nb, if you're a good reader and you're thinking "6th grade level, that's not so bad", your idea of what a "6th-grade level" looks like, is probably skewed way higher than what they mean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States

yyyk 3y ago
>at least 90% of US adults would probably get better results by passing their writing through ChatGPT, than not.... In fact, a large majority of readers in the US would probably benefit from passing what they read through ChatGPT Bullet list -> AI text generator -> AI text summarizer -> Bullet list Perhaps OpenAI can optimize the process by storing the original prompt and just giving it back at the last phase.
stOneskull 3y ago
> 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level. this is quite saddening.
- bamfly 3y ago
  I still struggle to believe it, but it does shed some light on previously-mysterious phenomena. IIRC the high-school-graduate equivalent adult literacy rate from similar studies—as in, possessing reading skills that we hope a high school graduate would have, which basically equates to being able to read two moderate-length, moderate-complexity texts and understand them well enough to synthesize a description of their positions, and how they agree and differ—isn't much more than 20%. Four out of five people you encounter are going through life constantly struggling to understand WTF is happening or what they're supposed to do and getting by on a lot of guesswork, while all continually mis-communicating with one another. Really explains a lot.
  - hughesjj 3y ago
    Shit, it really does. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I mean, YouTube comments and the like are rife with unintelligible prose. All those people talking in all caps run on unpunctuated sentences aren't uncommon, and those are just the ones who actually went through the trouble to try communicating in the first place.
kneebonian 3y ago
> "According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level." And, nb, if you're a good reader and you're thinking "6th grade level, that's not so bad", your idea of what a "6th-grade level" looks like, is probably skewed way higher than what they mean. To continue the entirety of the quote which makes it not seem quite as dammning: "Literacy in the United States was categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics into different literacy levels, with 92% of American adults having at least "Level 1" literacy in 2019.[1] According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level.[2] In many nations, the ability to read a simple sentence suffices as literacy, and was the previous standard for the U.S. The definition of literacy has changed greatly; the term is presently defined as the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.[3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States

by bamfly 3y ago

yyyk 3y ago

>at least 90% of US adults would probably get better results by passing their writing through ChatGPT, than not.... In fact, a large majority of readers in the US would probably benefit from passing what they read through ChatGPT Bullet list -> AI text generator -> AI text summarizer -> Bullet list Perhaps OpenAI can optimize the process by storing the original prompt and just giving it back at the last phase.

stOneskull 3y ago

> 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level. this is quite saddening.

bamfly 3y ago
I still struggle to believe it, but it does shed some light on previously-mysterious phenomena. IIRC the high-school-graduate equivalent adult literacy rate from similar studies—as in, possessing reading skills that we hope a high school graduate would have, which basically equates to being able to read two moderate-length, moderate-complexity texts and understand them well enough to synthesize a description of their positions, and how they agree and differ—isn't much more than 20%. Four out of five people you encounter are going through life constantly struggling to understand WTF is happening or what they're supposed to do and getting by on a lot of guesswork, while all continually mis-communicating with one another. Really explains a lot.
- hughesjj 3y ago
  Shit, it really does. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I mean, YouTube comments and the like are rife with unintelligible prose. All those people talking in all caps run on unpunctuated sentences aren't uncommon, and those are just the ones who actually went through the trouble to try communicating in the first place.

kneebonian 3y ago

> "According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level." And, nb, if you're a good reader and you're thinking "6th grade level, that's not so bad", your idea of what a "6th-grade level" looks like, is probably skewed way higher than what they mean. To continue the entirety of the quote which makes it not seem quite as dammning: "Literacy in the United States was categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics into different literacy levels, with 92% of American adults having at least "Level 1" literacy in 2019.[1] According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level.[2] In many nations, the ability to read a simple sentence suffices as literacy, and was the previous standard for the U.S. The definition of literacy has changed greatly; the term is presently defined as the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.[3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_the_United_States