Why LLMs Rock (or: BooLLMean Logic for the Uninitiated)

Good post, but Elixir is not even mentioned there

This blog post doesn’t seem related to Elixir, but if you mean in relation to Elixir related discussions…

I am sick and tired of chewing out elementary truths to people whose reading comprehension caps out at three words per paragraph.

People generally don’t have time to read huge texts, especially in long conversations. Hence it’s a good idea to try to be as clear and as concise as possible - at least if your goal is for more people to read it and read it more in full. (As an example, I only skimmed through your post to see if it might be suitable for this forum.)

Or better yet—ask your LLM to translate it into simple sentences for them.

(Putting aside the fact what your LLM gave you was 642 words, 46 sentences, and 26 paragraphs )

While LLM’s can be a good tool as a more advanced thesaurus, dictionary, or translator, if your intention is for people to read what you are trying to say it’s generally not a good idea to have a LLM write (or write large chunks) of what you intend to post in a discussion - in fact it is against our rules here

It doesn’t serve you either, as people quickly switch off if they feel what they are reading is computer generated, it also goes against your ‘reputation’, i.e how people perceive you and how much value they place on your input in conversations.

You can definitely use LLMs to help you articulate what you want to say in a discussion, just maybe don’t get it to write it for you - instead stick to your own words and let it help you make what you’re trying to say, better.

In short:

• If your post is in relation to Elixir related discussions here, see above.
• If not, it’s off-topic for this forum

What does not definitely serve me, is people who care about their ‘reputation’ so much that they fear to say anything, as well as people who perceive me instead of perceiving the message. In decent society it’s called “Ad hominem” and is despised.

I could have easily added a meaningless line there, attaching Elixir to the message, but I didn’t. If you think not adding nonsense garbage to posts is violating rules on this forum, just delete a post. I really don’t need a long feedback explaining politely why my perfectly on-topic text has been banned.

If you care whether people read/take-in/value what you are trying to say then you do care, otherwise you may as well not participate in a discussion. This even pre-dates LLMs, where we have often said that if you are trying to convince someone (eg a project maintainer) to take your suggestion on board then the onus is on you to convince them it’s a good idea. And that’s best done by articulating yourself in a way that makes someone more attuned to what you have to say

LLM’s introduce an additional barrier - because most people just aren’t interested in hearing what someone else’s LLM has got to say.

So the choices are fairly simple, and based on your personal goals: do you want people to read/take on board your input in a discussion… or not? If the former, what increases your chances of that?

As mentioned in my original post, if your post also covers Elixir related discussions then it’s on topic for the forum (hence me going to the trouble of replying in that instance). If it’s not, then it’s off-topic for this forum as our blog posts section is for Elixir-related blog posts or those that might help Elixir developers while working with Elixir.

Quite happy for you to decide (and it’s probably a good thing I replied.. as otherwise you might have simply gotten a load of posts like the one above mine )

Define “people.”

I do want some people to read/take on board my input. I surely don’t want those who judge my texts by their assumptions on whether or not the text has been created in a way they accept.

I am not trying to write for everyone, I am not Somerset Maugham.

I don’t. There are very few people in the world I might want to convince occasionally, but I prefer to write them direct emails on that matter.