8 months or so ago, my quip regarding LLMs was “stochastic parrot.”
The term I’ve been using of late is “authority simulator.” My formative experiences with “authority figures” was a person who can speak with breadth and depth about a subject and who seems to have internalized it because they can answer quickly and thoroughly. Because LLMs do this so well, it’s really easy to feel like you’re talking to an authority in a subject. And even though my brain intellectually knows this isn’t true, emotionally, the simulation of authority is comforting.
The term I’ve been using of late is “authority simulator.” My formative experiences with “authority figures” was a person who can speak with breadth and depth about a subject and who seems to have internalized it because they can answer quickly and thoroughly. Because LLMs do this so well, it’s really easy to feel like you’re talking to an authority in a subject. And even though my brain intellectually knows this isn’t true, emotionally, the simulation of authority is comforting.