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marshraytoday at 2:12 AM1 replyview on HN

Computers are used to evaluate LLMs, but LLMs are not "software" or "algorithms" in the traditional sense. They are not built out of conditional branches or loops.

So trying to squeeze the observed behavior of this new thing under existing terms like "software bug" is at least as much of a force-fit, and what you're doing here is just as much language engineering as choosing to use a term like '[mis]alignment'. Which is fine, this is just one way that humans choose language.


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1659447091today at 2:45 AM

> Computers are used to evaluate LLMs

LLMs run on computers and are thus constrained by the capacity of that which runs it. If the system running the LLM has no network and no software or software-tooling, how does the LLM's generated text take action on a system(computer) that requires software to do anything?

Also, I absolutely agree LLMs are not software, and thats my point. LLMs without supporting software tooling surrounding it cannot do anything but print text. And even the printing of that text happens through software

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