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Terr_ • yesterday at 6:21 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

All human communication is based on internally simulating the presumed mind that was/will-be at the other end. Even now, some part of your brain--however subconscious--is building a tiny sketch of me with assumed beliefs and motivations, and you're using it to predict and interpret the next words.

But what happens when everything is persistently, subtly wrong? When we cannot smoothly map the text to a simulation? An inner-sim keeps throwing errors and mis-predicting what comes next is unnerving and draining. Like talking to a human who is not currently sane.

Sometimes I imagine LLM text like a plastic animal model put out to confuse local wildlife, where it hits just enough instinctive triggers that they try to mate with it before leaving in frustrated bafflement.

______

Half-Life 2, Dr. Kleiner: "Never fear, Gordon, she's de-beaked and completely harmless. The worst she might do is attempt to couple with your head. Fruitlessly!"


Replies

HarHarVeryFunny • yesterday at 6:58 PM

> All human communication is based on internally simulating the presumed mind that was/will-be at the other end

Which requires a bunch of things an LLM lacks, such as theory of mind, knowing who it is talking to, and willingness/ability to engage in short turn conversation to assess and steer the conversation according to the feedback it is getting from the person it is talking to.