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I have seen many people not saying "don't know" when appropriate. If you believe whomever without some double-checking you will have (bad) surprises. To make a

by vladms 2y ago

I have seen many people not saying "don't know" when appropriate. If you believe whomever without some double-checking you will have (bad) surprises. To make another parallel: that's why we have automated testing in software (long before LLMs). Because you can't trust without checking.

cogman10 2y ago
And what's you opinion of people that never say "don't know"? Unless you are in sales or marketing, getting caught lying is really detrimental to your career.
- worthless-trash 2y ago
  Too many don't knows, when they should they are stupid Too little don't knows and end up being wrong, an idiot.
- lioeters 2y ago
  Or politics, where confidently lying is an essential skill.
  - wqaatwt 2y ago
    Is it? Seems like a lost art these days. Modern politicians hardly put in any effort making up convincing and subtle lies anymore..
    - codesnik 2y ago
      and it still works. And problem seems to be related to the unconditional trust of LLM output.
- wqaatwt 2y ago
  There is lying and there is being incompetent.
- hnfong 2y ago
  Then the optimal strategy is to never say "don't know" and never get caught lying. Seems to work for many people. I suspect my career has been hampered by a higher-than-average willingness to say "I don't know"...
cstrahan 2y ago
I think you are discounting the fact that you can weed out people who make a habit of that, but you can't do that with LLMs if they are all doing that.
ang_cire 2y ago
Some people trust Alex Jones, while the vast majority realize that he just fabricates untruths constantly. Far fewer people realize that LLMs do the same. People know that computers are deterministic, but most don't realize that determinism and accuracy are orthogonal. Most non-IT people give computers authoritative deference they do not deserve. This has been a huge issue with things like Shot Spotter, facial recognition, etc.

by vladms 2y ago

cogman10 2y ago

And what's you opinion of people that never say "don't know"? Unless you are in sales or marketing, getting caught lying is really detrimental to your career.

worthless-trash 2y ago
Too many don't knows, when they should they are stupid Too little don't knows and end up being wrong, an idiot.
lioeters 2y ago
Or politics, where confidently lying is an essential skill.
- wqaatwt 2y ago
  Is it? Seems like a lost art these days. Modern politicians hardly put in any effort making up convincing and subtle lies anymore..
  - codesnik 2y ago
    and it still works. And problem seems to be related to the unconditional trust of LLM output.
wqaatwt 2y ago
There is lying and there is being incompetent.
hnfong 2y ago
Then the optimal strategy is to never say "don't know" and never get caught lying. Seems to work for many people. I suspect my career has been hampered by a higher-than-average willingness to say "I don't know"...

cstrahan 2y ago

I think you are discounting the fact that you can weed out people who make a habit of that, but you can't do that with LLMs if they are all doing that.

ang_cire 2y ago

Some people trust Alex Jones, while the vast majority realize that he just fabricates untruths constantly. Far fewer people realize that LLMs do the same. People know that computers are deterministic, but most don't realize that determinism and accuracy are orthogonal. Most non-IT people give computers authoritative deference they do not deserve. This has been a huge issue with things like Shot Spotter, facial recognition, etc.