You shouldn't use LLMs to write anything

LLMs are good for a few stuff and not so good for a lot of stuff. They are probabilistic models that try to predict what word might come next. They do it be representing words numerically (tokens, vectors) and then compute the similarity between multiple vectors and hence produce an output.

I think that LLMs are helpful if you treat them as search engines on steroids. You can extract information from them but you shouldn’t trust the information given by them at all just like you shouldn’t trust the information available on the internet without doing any critical thinking. Cross reading and cross checks are an absolute must. So, read the info they spit out but always cross check it.

However, my personal stance is much more distanced towards LLMs when it comes to writing something with the help of them. You simply shouldn’t do that. Writing is a whole different process in which you actually think much deeper than you’d do when you read something. When you write, you apply the knowledge and that’s exactly when any knowledge gaps you might have start popping up. As a result, you get to think more deeply, learn more since you need to address those knowledge gaps and simply make your brain work harder. This applies to any other activity that you actively participate in rather than being a passive receiver. For instance, music. Making music is much different than listening to it because when you produce something, you are simply doing something active.

So, what happens when you offload all this process to a LLM? You just get dumber. You don’t get all those benefits of writing. You don’t get to think more deeply. You don’t get to learn more. You don’t get to do any critical thinking. All you get is a lazy brain.

Knock it off with all the bullshit about being “efficient” and saving time by using LLMs for this. There is no shortcut with learning stuff and improving yourself. You’re not being efficient, you are just being stupid. You must dedicate your time and effort to writing whatever you are supposed to write. There is no way around it.

I had to let this one out after seeing a lot of posts online but even research papers being littered with LLM bullshit.