Perhaps my statement in the first quote is a bit unclear...
Markdown is easier to write than raw HTML, and deterministically transforms. But writing strict Markdown (or using any specific syntax) creates an efficiency penalty - e.g., how do I format a URL again? How do I insert an image? Guess I'll have to look that up. What if I want to use more advanced CSS formatting? I'll have to update the HTML afterwards by hand.
In contrast, using an LLM to format means I can put any kind of text in and the machine will just figure it out for me.
The cost of this "convenience" is orders of magnitude more processing time, and with it the energy costs and ecological destruction that comes with that.
Sure, there are higher energy costs and it's probably worse for the environment.
I just wanted to clarify what I meant by convenience - less effort and "processing time" for me, personally, not overall.
I guess I'd compare it to ordering DoorDash every night instead of buying groceries and cooking at home. The first one is much more convenient, but comes with much higher total energy costs.
Markdown is easier to write than raw HTML, and deterministically transforms. But writing strict Markdown (or using any specific syntax) creates an efficiency penalty - e.g., how do I format a URL again? How do I insert an image? Guess I'll have to look that up. What if I want to use more advanced CSS formatting? I'll have to update the HTML afterwards by hand.
In contrast, using an LLM to format means I can put any kind of text in and the machine will just figure it out for me.
That's what I mean by "more convenient".