LLMs are also used for things like a validation source, AI girlfriends and creation of slop, and I doubt that any of these, unlike the ability to search the web, makes the user or mankind as a whole more capable.
The worse-case scenarios are LLMs outwitting even the smartest humans and either rendering human intelligence obsolete or outright commiting genocide.
LLMs are also used for things like a validation source,
Validation is very important! You shouldn’t want all your ideas and actions validated, but most people do benefit from having their genuine virtues, efforts, and fundamental worth validated. Feeling like you matter and have genuine value is protective against depression and having someone external point out what’s good about you helps you internalize it and see the good in yourself, as well as to prevail in the face of adversity.
Excessively sycophantic AIs that just validate anything are bad, but validation that actually makes people recognize what’s good about themselves does make them more capable.
This essay is good, but it misses two points.
LLMs are also used for things like a validation source, AI girlfriends and creation of slop, and I doubt that any of these, unlike the ability to search the web, makes the user or mankind as a whole more capable.
The worse-case scenarios are LLMs outwitting even the smartest humans and either rendering human intelligence obsolete or outright commiting genocide.
Validation is very important! You shouldn’t want all your ideas and actions validated, but most people do benefit from having their genuine virtues, efforts, and fundamental worth validated. Feeling like you matter and have genuine value is protective against depression and having someone external point out what’s good about you helps you internalize it and see the good in yourself, as well as to prevail in the face of adversity.
Excessively sycophantic AIs that just validate anything are bad, but validation that actually makes people recognize what’s good about themselves does make them more capable.