Historical analogies for large language models
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ice, chess, tractors, railroads, swords, sword fighting, mass production, pre-fab homes, photography, segways, scissor doors, pornography, calculators
dynomight.net/llms How will large language models (LLMs) change the world? No one knows. With such uncertainty, a good exercise is to look for historical analogies—to think about other technologies and ask what would happen if LLMs played out the same way. I like to keep things concrete, so I’ll discuss the impact of LLMs on writing. But most of this would also apply to the impact of LLMs on other fields, as well as other AI technologies like AI art/music/video/code. We used to harvest huge amounts of natural ice and ship them long distances. The first machines to make ice were dangerous…
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