4 ms·

I've never met an LLM that consistently behaved well at all. Quantized or unquantized. Honestly it feels like the bulk of the industry is acting out one big LA

I've never met an LLM that consistently behaved well at all. Quantized or unquantized. Honestly it feels like the bulk of the industry is acting out one big LARP where they're always right around the corner from developing AGI and doing something big and amazing and....it just never materializes. Obnoxious AI agents, worthless AI-generated websites crowding out useful resources, unreliable AI search results. The AI industry has done very well for itself selling hype. Now it needs actual good products.

hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
This makes 0 sense to me. I get tons of real world value and productivity benefits from AI, most specifically ChatGPT and cursor.sh. I don't disagree that there is a ton of hype, a lot of it unwarranted, and I cringe when I see tons of companies trying to "throw AI against the wall and see if it sticks" (I personally nominate LinkedIn's AI blurbs on their feed as "most useless and annoying use of AI"). But still, I'm blown away with how much value I get from AI. It makes me a bit sad that so many of us have become so jaded that they see it as "one big LARP".
- Capricorn2481 2y ago
  It's dismissive to call it jaded. I don't think you, me, or the people you're talking about are intellectually different. We just don't like what AI makes even if we think it's impressive.
  - hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
    Fair point, my apologies. I guess what I'm saying is that I agree that AI is an imperfect tool, but saying it's all hype feels like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
    - rockskon 2y ago
      LLM is just about all hype. I've found AI song generators to be entertaining but that's about it.
- rockskon 2y ago
  That's the thing - I can't trust ChatGPT. If I am searching for something I don't know the answer to and don't have the luxury of trial-and-error for the information I'm given, I can't rely on an unreliable agent like ChatGPT (or literally any LLM for that matter). ChatGPT could be giving me a correct answer. Or it could be blowing smoke up my ass. I don't know which it is when I'm seeing an answer from ChatGPT! And that's the problem.
  - tasuki 2y ago
    Ask questions where you can verify whether the answer is correct. Then it becomes a very useful tool.
    - rockskon 2y ago
      Only if the trial-and-error process has no meaningful consequences for failure.
      - tasuki 2y ago
        What things do you work on that have meaningful consequences for failure? Woodworking? LLMs indeed might not be for you! I write code and there's zero consequences for failure as long as I don't push it in version control...
      - School-Cotton 2y ago
        Yeah. Which describes tons of stuff I encounter every day.
        rockskon 2y ago
        Which doesn't describe much of my stuff at all. At least not my stuff where it'd be quicker to ask an AI agent for help with.
    - latexr 2y ago
      > Ask questions where you can verify whether the answer is correct. If you’re going to verify (and you should), might as well skip the asking step.
devbent 2y ago
> Now it needs actual good products. I asked chatgpt for recommended food pairings for a soup I made today. It did a great job. Chatgpt also helped me debug a home automation issue I'd been having for over a year with some smart lights. I find uses for chatgpt every day.
throw46365 2y ago
I had that feeling the other day, reading quotes from that OpenAI executive: https://archive.is/LpDuJ https://archive.is/LpDuJ She said the executives told the board they "didn't think he was the right person to lead the company to AGI…” The way I read it, it sort of sounded like you could substitute “AGI” with “Shangri-La”. It’s always going to be just down the road, but they are sort of emotionally convinced that is where they are headed.
School-Cotton 2y ago
I’m blown away when people say stuff like this. GPT-4 makes me substantially more productive almost every day. It’s like we live in a different reality.
lucubratory 2y ago
>Honestly it feels like the bulk of the industry is acting out one big LARP where they're always right around the corner from developing AGI and doing something big and amazing and....it just never materializes. It's been less than two years since ChatGPT released.

hn_throwaway_99 2y ago

This makes 0 sense to me. I get tons of real world value and productivity benefits from AI, most specifically ChatGPT and cursor.sh. I don't disagree that there is a ton of hype, a lot of it unwarranted, and I cringe when I see tons of companies trying to "throw AI against the wall and see if it sticks" (I personally nominate LinkedIn's AI blurbs on their feed as "most useless and annoying use of AI"). But still, I'm blown away with how much value I get from AI. It makes me a bit sad that so many of us have become so jaded that they see it as "one big LARP".

Capricorn2481 2y ago
It's dismissive to call it jaded. I don't think you, me, or the people you're talking about are intellectually different. We just don't like what AI makes even if we think it's impressive.
- hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
  Fair point, my apologies. I guess what I'm saying is that I agree that AI is an imperfect tool, but saying it's all hype feels like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
  - rockskon 2y ago
    LLM is just about all hype. I've found AI song generators to be entertaining but that's about it.
rockskon 2y ago
That's the thing - I can't trust ChatGPT. If I am searching for something I don't know the answer to and don't have the luxury of trial-and-error for the information I'm given, I can't rely on an unreliable agent like ChatGPT (or literally any LLM for that matter). ChatGPT could be giving me a correct answer. Or it could be blowing smoke up my ass. I don't know which it is when I'm seeing an answer from ChatGPT! And that's the problem.
- tasuki 2y ago
  Ask questions where you can verify whether the answer is correct. Then it becomes a very useful tool.
  - rockskon 2y ago
    Only if the trial-and-error process has no meaningful consequences for failure.
    - tasuki 2y ago
      What things do you work on that have meaningful consequences for failure? Woodworking? LLMs indeed might not be for you! I write code and there's zero consequences for failure as long as I don't push it in version control...
    - School-Cotton 2y ago
      Yeah. Which describes tons of stuff I encounter every day.
      - rockskon 2y ago
        Which doesn't describe much of my stuff at all. At least not my stuff where it'd be quicker to ask an AI agent for help with.
  - latexr 2y ago
    > Ask questions where you can verify whether the answer is correct. If you’re going to verify (and you should), might as well skip the asking step.

devbent 2y ago

> Now it needs actual good products. I asked chatgpt for recommended food pairings for a soup I made today. It did a great job. Chatgpt also helped me debug a home automation issue I'd been having for over a year with some smart lights. I find uses for chatgpt every day.

throw46365 2y ago

I had that feeling the other day, reading quotes from that OpenAI executive: https://archive.is/LpDuJ https://archive.is/LpDuJ She said the executives told the board they "didn't think he was the right person to lead the company to AGI…” The way I read it, it sort of sounded like you could substitute “AGI” with “Shangri-La”. It’s always going to be just down the road, but they are sort of emotionally convinced that is where they are headed.

School-Cotton 2y ago

I’m blown away when people say stuff like this. GPT-4 makes me substantially more productive almost every day. It’s like we live in a different reality.

lucubratory 2y ago

>Honestly it feels like the bulk of the industry is acting out one big LARP where they're always right around the corner from developing AGI and doing something big and amazing and....it just never materializes. It's been less than two years since ChatGPT released.