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LLMs can get "brain rot"

(llm-brain-rot.github.io)
466 points tamnd | 1 comments | 21 Oct 25 14:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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Version467 ◴[22 Oct 25 06:55 UTC] No.45665703[source]▶
So they trained LLM's on a bunch of junk and then notice that it got worse? I don't understand how that's a surprising, or even interesting result?
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nazgul17 ◴[22 Oct 25 07:05 UTC] No.45665753[source]▶
They also tried to heal the damage, to partial avail. Besides, it's science: you need to test your hypotheses empirically. Also, to draw attention to the issue among researchers, performing a study and sharing your results is possibly the best way.
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1. Version467 ◴[22 Oct 25 10:12 UTC] No.45666973[source]▶
Yeah I mean I get that, but surely we have research like this already. "Garbage in, garbage out" is basically the catchphrase of the entire ml field. I guess the contribution here is that "brainrot"-like text is garbage which, even though it seems obvious, does warrant scientific investigation. But then that's what the paper should focus on. Not that "LLMs can get 'brain rot'".

I guess I don't actually have an issue with this research paper existing, but I do have an issue with its clickbait-y title that gets it a bunch of attention, even though the actual research is really not that interesting.