I wish the author had state out right that they were not using LLMs much, since their opinion on them and their output has no value (its a new technology, and different enough that you do have to spend some time with them in order to be able to find out what value they have for your particluar work[0].
The is especially the case when you are about to complain about style, since that can easily be adjusted, by simply telling the model what you want.
But I think there is a final point that the author is also wrong about, but that is far more interesting: why we write. Personally I write for 3 reasons: to remember, to share and to structure my thoughts.
If an LLM is better then me at writing (and it is) then there is no reason for me to write to communicate - it is not only slower, it is counterproductive.
If the AI is better at wrangling my ideas into some coherent thread, then there is no reason for me to do it. This one I am least convinced about.
AI is already much better than me at strictly remembering, but computers have been that since forever, the issue is mostly convinient input/output. AIs makes this easier thanks to speech to text input.
Quite likely, further progress will lead to LLMs writing "better" than at least 99% of humans.
I think this will be no more of a contest than playing chess has been: humans don't stand a chance, but it also doesn't matter because being better or worse than the AI is besides the point.
Anyway its like getting better at running because bicycles became a thing: a) pretty soon you are not going to be able to keep up and b) you are better of buying one anyway.
> ... their opinion on them and their output has no value
This is ridiculous. Even if the author has never typed a single character into a prompt box, he can still come to perfectly valid conclusions about the technology just by observing patterns in the outputs that are shoved into his face.
"I wish these astrophysicists had stated up front that they've never created a galaxy. How can they have a well-formed opinion on cosmic structures if they only ever observe them?"
The is especially the case when you are about to complain about style, since that can easily be adjusted, by simply telling the model what you want.
But I think there is a final point that the author is also wrong about, but that is far more interesting: why we write. Personally I write for 3 reasons: to remember, to share and to structure my thoughts.
If an LLM is better then me at writing (and it is) then there is no reason for me to write to communicate - it is not only slower, it is counterproductive.
If the AI is better at wrangling my ideas into some coherent thread, then there is no reason for me to do it. This one I am least convinced about.
AI is already much better than me at strictly remembering, but computers have been that since forever, the issue is mostly convinient input/output. AIs makes this easier thanks to speech to text input.
[0]: See eg. https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/centaurs-and-cyborgs-on-the....