The best conversations I still have are with real people, but those are rare. With ChatGPT, I reliably have good conversations, whereas with people, it’s hit or miss, usually miss.

What AI does better:

  • It’s willing to discuss esoteric topics. Most humans prefer to talk about people and events.
  • It’s not driven by emotions or personal bias.
  • It doesn’t make mean, snide, sarcastic, ad hominem, or strawman responses.
  • It understands and responds to my actual view, even from a vague description, whereas humans often misunderstand me and argue against views I don’t hold.
  • It tells me when I’m wrong but without being a jerk about it.

Another noteworthy point is that I’m very likely on the autistic spectrum, and my mind works differently than the average person’s, which probably explains, in part, why I struggle to maintain interest with human-to-human interactions.

  • Praise Idleness@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    I know a bit more than normal people would about the inner workings of LLMs. I still occasionally have a conversation with it, like I would with a therapist, perhapse less open and all but still. Do I know it’s nothing more than a talking parrot? Yes. Do I still feel like I’m talking to a real person without judgement? Yes. And I can use that from time to time.

  • Zerlyna@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I talk with chat gpt too sometimes and I get where you are coming from. However it’s not always right either. It says it was updated in September but still refuses to commit to memory that Trump was convicted 34 times earlier this year. Why is that?

          • Wolf314159@startrek.website
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            2 months ago

            I wasn’t trying to be mean. I have no shame about masturbation. I wasn’t being sarcastic or snide. I meant what I said genuinely and without prejudice. You’re using a machine because it’s easy, self fulfilling, and you don’t have to worry about the complexities of interacting with another person. How is that any different than using a vibrator? If you feel shame about this or using a sex toy by yourself, maybe you should reflect on those feelings and analyze if they are helping you or hurting you.

            • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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              2 months ago

              Sorry about misinterpreting your tone then. In that case I simply just don’t understand what you’re trying to say there or why what I said made you feel that way.

                • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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                  2 months ago

                  I don’t understand how that’s what you got out of my post or how this relates to it. Responding feels like defending a view I don’t hold.

  • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    Have you ever tried inputting sentences that you’ve said to humans to see if the chatbot understand your point better? That might be an interesting experiment if you haven’t tried it already. If you have, do you have an example of how it did better than the human?

    I’m kinda amazed that it can understand your accent better than humans too. This implies Chatbots could be a great tool for people trying to perfect their 2nd language.

    • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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      2 months ago

      A couple of times, yes, but more often it’s the other way around. I input messages from other users into ChatGPT to help me extract the key argument and make sure I’m responding to what they’re actually saying, rather than what I think they’re saying. Especially when people write really long replies.

      The reason I know ChatGPT understands me so well is from the voice chats we’ve had. Usually, we’re discussing some deep, philosophical idea, and then a new thought pops into my mind. I try to explain it to ChatGPT, but as I’m speaking, I notice how difficult it is to put my idea into words. I often find myself starting a sentence without knowing how to finish it, or I talk myself into a dead-end.

      Now, the way ChatGPT usually responds is by just summarizing what I said rather than elaborating on it. But while listening to that summary, I often think, “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” or, “Damn, that was well put, I need to write that down.”

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        So what you’re saying if I’m reading right is chatbots are great for bouncing ideas off of to help you explain yourself better as well as helping you gather your own thoughts. im a bit curious about your philosophy chats.

        When you have a philosophical discussion does the chatbot summarize your thoughts in its responses or is it more humanlike maybe disagreeing/bringing up things you hadn’t thought of like a person might? (I’ve never used one).

        • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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          2 months ago

          It’s a bit hard to get AI to disagree with you unless you’re saying something obviously false. It has a strong bias towards being agreeable. I’m generally treating it as an expert who I’m interviewing. I ask what it thinks about something like free will and then ask follow-up questions based on its responses and it’s also great for bouncing novel ideas with though even here it’s not too keen on just blatantly calling out bad ones but rather makes you feel like the greatest philosopher of all time. There are some ways around this. ChatGPT can be prompted to go around many of the most typical flaws it has by for example telling that it’s allowed to speculate or simply just asking it to point out the errors in some idea.

          But yeah, unless what I said was a question, in general its responses are basically just summaries of what I said. It’s basically just replying with a demonstration that it understood what I said which it indeed does with an amazing success rate.

  • Sundial@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Autism and social unawareness may be a factor. But points you made like the snide remarks one may also indicate that you’re having these conversations with assholes.

    • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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      2 months ago

      Well, it’s a self-selecting group of people. I can’t comment on the ones who don’t respond to me, only on the ones who do and for some reason the amount of assholes seems to be quite high in that group. I just don’t feel like it’s warranted. While I do have a tendency to make controversial comments I still try and be civil about it and I don’t understand the need to be such a dick about it even if someone disagrees with me. I welcome disagreement and are more than willing to talk about it as long as it’s done in good faith.

      • Sundial@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Sorry, just to clarify. Are you saying you’re having these conversations with people on person or online?

        • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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          2 months ago

          Online for the most part. Face to face it’s much easier to explain my views, as well as to jump in when the other person starts talking and I notice they misunderstood me.

          • Sundial@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Personally, I wouldn’t consider online debates as debating a person. The reason being is you have no idea the person you’re having this conversation with is a 12 year old with too much time on their hands or a 30 year old working at a troll farm. Even if they were a genuine person you’re debating with, sites like Lemmy enable assholes to actually be assholes. They can say things here that would have them socially shunned or even assaulted in real life with virtually no consequence. I’ve had debates with individuals on this site that I actually liked, but more often than not, I was just debating assholes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you’re actually interested in discussing topics, try doing it with people in your life instead of online. Doesn’t have to be a debate even. You can just ask how they feel about a certain topic and talk about it together. Doscussing/debating online isn’t a bad thing. Just be prepared for more assholes given the medium.

            • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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              2 months ago

              Finding people interested in talking about the topics I’m actually interested is really, really hard in real life. Obviously I’d prefer it that way too but easier said than done. I do have good conversations and debates with people online too but I just need to go thru quite the few assholes before finding one that’s actually doing it in good faith.

          • Sundial@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Also, I just went into your comment history and took a quick peek. Your latest “unpopular” opinion seems to be because you disregarded the lives of civilians from the most recent attack by Israel to assassinate Nasrallah. You come across as quite callous trying to justify the murder of hundreds/thousands all to attack one individual. Stuff like that rubs people the wrong way since you seem to display a very morally and ethically wrong opinion when you can’t even seem to acknowledge the horrendous loss of life.

            • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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              2 months ago

              I don’t think my opinion is wrong in this particular case but I’m open for having it challenged. It’s just than when people do it in a hostile way as was the case here, I simply block them and there goes their chance in attempting to change my mind. If someone was willing to actually engage with my argument and ask for clarification if needed, they’d atleast have a chance in attempting to influence my thinking. I don’t think I’m right about everything and there’s several things I’ve changed my mind about because of good counter-arguments. I simply just don’t engage with people who debate in bad faith.

              • Sundial@lemm.ee
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                2 months ago

                Except you’re the one debating in bad faith. On a post highlighting the obscenely high cost of human life to target a single member by a state known for some of its most horrendous war crimes in modern history, you’re just too keen to dismiss it. Remember my comment about people saying things online where as if they said them in person, they would be assaulted and/or socially shunned? You’re this person in this case. The person even came back to reply to you why they said the things you did. If you’re not capable of this basic level of self reflection, then you really shouldn’t make a post like this where you complain about people arguing. I’m bad faith with you.

                • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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                  2 months ago

                  I’m not arguing in bad faith though. What I say is what I actually believe. The reason for high civilian death count is for the most part explained by the use of human shields. If IDF stops bombing Hamas / Hezbollah members when they’re around civilians then that’s the only place you’ll find them from that on. It’s war. If one side plays by the rules and one side doesn’t then it’s them whose going to win.

                  Same logic applies when kidnappers demand ransoms; if you pay them you’re just encouraging more kidnappings.

  • msage@programming.dev
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    2 months ago

    Dude, you are sealioning so hard in this thread alone, it’s almost hilarious.

    No wonder you like the bot. Since you can’t debate any opinion honestly, just accuse everyone of being mean to you.

    Good luck with that.

  • Bobmighty@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Why are you here talking about it then? You even say you don’t have interest in human to human contact. Are you trying to talk to the bots on Lemmy?

    • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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      2 months ago

      You even say you don’t have interest in human to human contact.

      I’m relatively sure I have not infact said that.

      • Bobmighty@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Ok. My point still stands. Chat gpt is a fake conversation where one side is an unfeeling unintelligent thing programmed to fake human seeming conversation. It’s trained on an insane amount of stolen human interaction. You are saying you prefer a Chinese room to a person. That’s not autism. It’s just anti social. At least own up to that.

        Have fun playing your conversation game. It eats up a crazy amount of power to do that so I hope it’s really, truly worth it to your life.

        • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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          2 months ago

          For all I know I could be talking with an LLM right now. I don’t really see what’s the difference wether I’m talking to a supercomputer or an angry teenager. Online conversations are rather meaningless to begin with.

  • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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    2 months ago

    I think when you have “Contrarian” in your name it be worth thinking a bit more on this, and maybe noting why you like the chatbots and considering how you might apply that to your own statements to make your human on human interactions more pleasant themselves.

    Or not, don’t listen to me, I beef with internet strangers all the time.

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    It could respond in other ways if it was trained to do so. My first local model was interesting as I changed its profile to have a more dark and sarcastic tone, and it was funny to see it balance that instruction with the core mode to be friendly and helpful.

    The point is, current levels of LLMs are just telling you what you want to hear. But maybe that’s useful as a sounding board for your own thoughts. Just remember its limitations.

    Regardless of how far AI tech goes, the human-AI relationship is something we need to pay attention to. People will find it a good tool like OP, but it can be easy to get sucked into thinking it’s more than it is and becoming a problem.

    • whaleross@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Idk, I think that article is a bit hyperbolic and self serving for validation of the writers and the readers to pander their own intelligence above others. The lengthy exposition on cold reading is plain filler material for the topic and yet it goes on. ChatGPT and LLM have been a thing for a while now and I doubt anyone technically literate believes it to be AI as in an actual individual entity. It’s an interactive question-response machine that summarises what it knows about your query in flowing language or even formatted as lists or tables or whatever by your request. Yes, it has deep deep flaws with holes and hallucinations, but for reasonable expectations it is brilliant. Just like a computer or the software for it, it can do what it can do. Nobody expects a word processor or image editor or musical notation software to do more than what it can do. Even the world’s most regarded encyclopedia have limits, both printed and interactive media alike. So I don’t see why people feel the need to keep in patting themselves on the back of how clever they are by pointing out that LLM are in fact not a real world mystical oracle that knows everything. Maybe because they themselves were the once thinking it was and now they are overcompensating to save face.

    • Wiz@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      Thank you! I’m a professional part-time psychic entertainer and magician, and this was a delightful read. It’s true, and A.I. takes advantage of people the same way as a psychic entertainer. Both tell you what j you want to hear. The difference is, the psychic is usually deemed entertainment, and the computer is often deemed an authoritative source.

      It’s a bit scary to think that I’m a few decades my job-hobby may be outsourced to A.I. However, I’ve always thought (predicted!) that live entertainment will become more valuable as the A.I. revolution occurs.

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
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      2 months ago

      I’ve read this text. It’s a good piece, but unrelated to what OP is talking about.

      The text boils down to “people who believe that LLMs are smart do so for the same reasons as people who believe that mentalists can read minds do.” OP is not saying anything remotely close to that; instead, they’re saying that LLMs lead to pleasing and insightful conversations in their experience.

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
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        2 months ago

        they’re saying that LLMs lead to pleasing and insightful conversations in their experience.

        Yeah, as would eliza (at a much lower cost).

        It’s what they’re designed to do.

        But the point is that calling them conversations is a long stretch.

        You’re just talking to yourself. You’re enjoying the conversation because the LLM is simply saying what you want to hear.

        There’s no conversation whatsoever going on there.

        • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
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          2 months ago

          Yeah, as would eliza (at a much lower cost).

          Neither Eliza nor LLMs are “insightful”, but that doesn’t stop them from outputting utterances that a human being would subjectively interpret as such. And the later is considerably better at that.

          But the point is that calling them conversations is a long stretch. // You’re just talking to yourself. You’re enjoying the conversation because the LLM is simply saying what you want to hear. // There’s no conversation whatsoever going on there.

          Then your point boils down to an “ackshyually”, on the same level as “When you play chess against Stockfish you aren’t actually «playing chess» as a 2P game, you’re just playing against yourself.”


          This shite doesn’t need to be smart to be interesting to use and fulfil some [not all] social needs. Specially in the case of autists (as OP mentioned to be likely in the spectrum); I’m not an autist myself but I lived with them for long enough to know how the cookie crumbles for them, opening your mouth is like saying “please put words here, so you can screech at me afterwards”.

        • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOP
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          2 months ago

          You’re gatekeeping what counts as a conversation now?

          I can take this even further. I can have better conversations literally with myself inside my own head than with some people online.