Robert McNeesSep 9, 2025
My students are often surprised to learn that LLMs aren’t answering their questions. Rather, an LLM answers the question “what would a reply to this look like?” It’s one of the first things I explain in the “Should I use LLMs?” portion of my syllabus.
Show threadScott WeintraubSep 9, 2025
@mcnees While I agree thats important to keep in mind, what is not clear is the degree to which people also answer questions that way. LLMs are definitely not what we believe intelligence to be, but could it be that that belief is incorrect?
Show threadMisuse CaseSep 9, 2025

@scottfweintraub @mcnees >> what is not clear is the degree to which people also answer questions that way.

Yes, it is. They don’t.

>> LLMs are definitely not what we believe intelligence to be, but could it be that that belief is incorrect?

No.

Show threadWilliam PietriSep 9, 2025

@MisuseCase

I'm not sure that's entirely the case. I had a... chaotic childhood, and there was definitely a period where I was, especially under stress, inclined to give plausible answer-shaped replies for which actual truth was irrelevant. Around this time I had also read a lot of joke books and could confidently land dirty jokes that I had zero knowledge of.

So I suspect the LLM expectation-influenced, consistency-driven glibness is similar to part of how we answer, but it only dominates in pathological conditions (compulsive liars, fabulists, some kinds of illness or brain damage).

@scottfweintraub @mcnees

Show threadMisuse Case
@williampietri @scottfweintraub @mcnees I would say (and I have said) that LLMs operate like one of Dr. Oliver Sacks’ patients who can convincingly fake having normal cognition for a while but fall apart on close inspection.
Sep 9, 2025 at 12:32pmWeb
Show threadWilliam PietriSep 9, 2025
@MisuseCase Yes, agreed! But I think Sacks' writing is so compelling because his extremes show us the normally hidden infrastructure.
@scottfweintraub @mcnees