Iris1d ago
Unfortunately, I fear that it's easy to see why LLMs became popular: getting anywhere in our currently arranged society requires us all to generate unreasonably large quantities of what is, frankly, total crap.
Show threadMarsh Ray1d ago

@iris_meredith @glyph It’s an extremely unpopular idea among the folks I follow, but 85% is officially “good enough” (i.e., a passing grade) for most areas of human endeavor.

So if a few fancy matrix multiplications can do that in two seconds, and do it 24/7 without expecting even basic employment rights, then business will be willing to put up with nearly anything to take advantage of that.

Show threadIris1d ago
@marshray @glyph Unfortunately I'm trained and experienced in precisely the fields where it really, really isn't (engineering)
Show threadDavid Nash1d ago
@iris_meredith @marshray @glyph Trained in such a field originally (chemistry) where getting things even slightly wrong can be *extraordinarily* dangerous, and have always had a hobby (amateur astronomy) where correctly answering a question like “is this star/galaxy visible tonight from such-and-such place and time” is bare-minimum table stakes. 85% correct is, often, effectively 0% correct in both scenarios.
Show threadMarsh Ray

@dpnash @iris_meredith @glyph Yes, I am too.

My point is we are not representative.

Mar 31 at 6:39amWeb
Show threadIris1d ago
@marshray @dpnash @glyph Well, yes, but the people of whom we speak also can't distinguish between "most" and "all". Hence Boeing
Show threadMarsh Ray1d ago

@iris_meredith @dpnash @glyph Well no one can, 100% of the time.

Those of us who trained and practiced for many years to attempt to consistently think rigorously are basically a lunatic fringe. It’s not normal human behavior.