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An LLM is a lossy encyclopedia

(simonwillison.net)
509 points tosh | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.208s | source

(the referenced HN thread starts at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45060519)
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latexr ◴[] No.45101170[source]
A lossy encyclopaedia should be missing information and be obvious about it, not making it up without your knowledge and changing the answer every time.

When you have a lossy piece of media, such as a compressed sound or image file, you can always see the resemblance to the original and note the degradation as it happens. You never have a clear JPEG of a lamp, compress it, and get a clear image of the Milky Way, then reopen the image and get a clear image of a pile of dirt.

Furthermore, an encyclopaedia is something you can reference and learn from without a goal, it allows you to peruse information you have no concept of. Not so with LLMs, which you have to query to get an answer.

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1. petesergeant ◴[] No.45112011[source]
You are absolutely right, and exactly the same thing came into my head while reading this. Some of the replies to you here are very irritating and seem not to grasp the point you're making, so I thought I'd chime in for moral support.