I recently set up a LLM to run locally on my desktop. Now that the novelty of setting it up and playing with different settings has worn off, I’m struggling to come up with actual uses for it. What do you use it for when not doing work stuff?

  • AlexanderESmith@kbin.social
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    7 months ago

    Absolutely nothing, because they all give fucking useless results. Hallucinates, is confidently wrong, and isn’t even grammatically competent (depending on the model). Not even good for a draft, because I’d have to completely rewrite it anyway.

    LLMs are only as good as the guys training it (who are mostly morons), and the raw data they train on (which is mostly unaudited random shit).

    And that’s just regular language. Coding? Hah!

    Me: Generate some code to [do a thing].
    LLM: [Gives me code]
    Me: [Some part] didnt work.
    LLM: Try [this] instead.
    Me: That didn’t work either.
    LLM: Try [the first thing] again.
    Me: … that still doesn’t work…
    LLM: Oh, sorry. Try [the second thing again].
    Me: …

    Loop continues forever.

    One time I found out about a built-in function that I didn’t know about (in LLM generated code that didn’t work), and read the manual for it, and rewrote the code from scratch to get it working. Literally the only useful thing it ever gave me was a single word (that it probably found on Superuser or StackExchange in the first place).

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Skill issue. You have to know a bit about the topic and prompt it right.

      It’s for boilerplate where you can scan it for errors with your dev ability

      • AlexanderESmith@kbin.social
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        7 months ago

        An interesting theory, except I know exactly how to do everything I’ve ever asked an LLM about. I would never trust one of these things to generate useful copy/code, I just wanted to see what it could do. It’s been shit 100% of the time. Never even gotten a useful function out of it.

        Also “skill issue” is a lazy response. Try reading the post before you reply next time.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          I did read it.

          You can create great and very useable boilerplate with even gpt 3.5 …

          You have a skill issue with your prompts.

          • AlexanderESmith@kbin.social
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            7 months ago

            If I can’t use the LLM by prompting it the same way I’d prompt one of my colleagues, then it’s not a skill issue; It’s shitty LLM. I don’t care if it’s the input embedder, training data, or the guy who didn’t bother properly building a model that didn’t just spit out bullshit.

            If an employee gave me this quality, I’d get rid of them. Why would I waste my time on a shit coder, artificial or otherwise?

            • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              Sorry, but holding spicy autocomplete to the same rigor you’d hold a human coworker is probably the beginning of your issue. It’s clear your prompt is not working.

              • AlexanderESmith@kbin.social
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                7 months ago

                Well, considering the speed of your responses, and your obsession with making excuses for shitty software, I’m guessing you’re and LLM, so I’m gonn start ignoring you too. Good luck surviving the hype phase.

                • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  I’m currently browsing this website, any page interaction results in a notification by the inbox.

                  You too reply quickly, thus, are also a robot.

                  Edit I’m not excusing shitty software, I acknowledged the types of tasks it’s appropriate for from the beginning.

                  I’m highlighting a shitty user lol