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"Hallucinate" is definitely marketing. it translates to "Creates text which contains incorrect or invalid information" The latter just doesn't sound as good i

by dartos 3y ago

"Hallucinate" is definitely marketing. it translates to "Creates text which contains incorrect or invalid information" The latter just doesn't sound as good in headlines/articles/tutorials (eg. marketing material).

ryandrake 3y ago
We already have words for when a computer program produces unexpected/incorrect output: “defect” and “bug”
- dartos 3y ago
  The weird thing is, it’s not a bug of software, it’s a limitation. The software is working as designed, statistics are just imperfect
ben_w 3y ago
It's a term of art from the days of image recognition AI that would confidently report seeing a giraffe while looking at a picture of an ambulance. It doesn't feel right to me either, to use it in the context of generative AI, and I'd support renaming this behaviour in GenAI (text and images both) — though myself I'd call this behaviour "mis-remembering". Edit: apparently some have suggested "delusion". That also works for me.
lucianbr 3y ago
So if I replied to your comment with "you are incorrect" I would be putting you in a worse light than saying "you are hallucinating"? The second is making it sound better? Doesn't feel that way to me.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  My problem with "hallucination" isn't that it makes error sound better or worse, it's that it makes it sound like there's a consciousness involved when there isn't.
IshKebab 3y ago
It's definitely not marketing. It has been in use for a lot longer than LLMs existed.
- dartos 3y ago
  Links? Also those two statements are not mutually exclusive. Errors in statistical models being called hallucinations in the past does not mean that term is not marketing speak for what I said earlier.
  - IshKebab 3y ago
    Here's an example from 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRDfzjxzj3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRDfzjxzj3M > Also those two statements are not mutually exclusive. > Errors in statistical models being called hallucinations in the past does not mean that term is not marketing speak for what I said earlier. The implicit claim was that they call this hallucination because it sounds better. In other words that some marketing people thought "what's a nicer word for 'mistakes'?" That is categorically untrue. I don't think there's any point arguing about whether or not the marketers like the use of the word "hallucinate" because neither of us has any evidence either way. Though I was also say the null hypothesis is that they're just using the standard word for it. So the onus is on you to provide some evidence that marketers came in an said "guys, make sure you say 'hallucinate'". Which I'm 99% sure has never happened.

by dartos 3y ago

ryandrake 3y ago

We already have words for when a computer program produces unexpected/incorrect output: “defect” and “bug”

dartos 3y ago
The weird thing is, it’s not a bug of software, it’s a limitation. The software is working as designed, statistics are just imperfect

ben_w 3y ago

It's a term of art from the days of image recognition AI that would confidently report seeing a giraffe while looking at a picture of an ambulance. It doesn't feel right to me either, to use it in the context of generative AI, and I'd support renaming this behaviour in GenAI (text and images both) — though myself I'd call this behaviour "mis-remembering". Edit: apparently some have suggested "delusion". That also works for me.

lucianbr 3y ago

So if I replied to your comment with "you are incorrect" I would be putting you in a worse light than saying "you are hallucinating"? The second is making it sound better? Doesn't feel that way to me.

JohnFen 3y ago
My problem with "hallucination" isn't that it makes error sound better or worse, it's that it makes it sound like there's a consciousness involved when there isn't.

IshKebab 3y ago

It's definitely not marketing. It has been in use for a lot longer than LLMs existed.

dartos 3y ago
Links? Also those two statements are not mutually exclusive. Errors in statistical models being called hallucinations in the past does not mean that term is not marketing speak for what I said earlier.
- IshKebab 3y ago
  Here's an example from 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRDfzjxzj3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRDfzjxzj3M > Also those two statements are not mutually exclusive. > Errors in statistical models being called hallucinations in the past does not mean that term is not marketing speak for what I said earlier. The implicit claim was that they call this hallucination because it sounds better. In other words that some marketing people thought "what's a nicer word for 'mistakes'?" That is categorically untrue. I don't think there's any point arguing about whether or not the marketers like the use of the word "hallucinate" because neither of us has any evidence either way. Though I was also say the null hypothesis is that they're just using the standard word for it. So the onus is on you to provide some evidence that marketers came in an said "guys, make sure you say 'hallucinate'". Which I'm 99% sure has never happened.