I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Uncategorized
23
Posts
20
Posters
7
Views
-
I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Noooooooooo
NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooLLMs are not compilers, and they're not assemblers. Determinism is a key aspect to assemblers and compilers.
And they *certainly* can't be part of a reproducible pipeline
@cwebber
I think that's the worst part about them.
They confidently give you total lies.Give me deterministic helpers any day.
At least the worst you can get there is an error.(Other than the psychosis they cause)
-
I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Noooooooooo
NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooLLMs are not compilers, and they're not assemblers. Determinism is a key aspect to assemblers and compilers.
And they *certainly* can't be part of a reproducible pipeline
@cwebber To be fair, you can’t spell LLVM without LLM.
🤪
-
@mntmn @cwebber I think the single interesting thing LLMs have revealed is that there is a substantial market segment who has an active desire for natural language interfaces to the computer and who will flip from "do not engage to the computer" to "engage with the computer" if a natural language interface became available.
I do not personally want a natural language interface to the computer. I also do not believe the thing LLM vendors have built is a natural language interface to the computer
-
I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Noooooooooo
NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooLLMs are not compilers, and they're not assemblers. Determinism is a key aspect to assemblers and compilers.
And they *certainly* can't be part of a reproducible pipeline
@cwebber How the fuck did we go from "they're really good for boilerplate" to "they're basically the same as a compiler or assembler" with output quality either stagnating or getting worse?
-
@mntmn @cwebber I think the single interesting thing LLMs have revealed is that there is a substantial market segment who has an active desire for natural language interfaces to the computer and who will flip from "do not engage to the computer" to "engage with the computer" if a natural language interface became available.
I do not personally want a natural language interface to the computer. I also do not believe the thing LLM vendors have built is a natural language interface to the computer
@mntmn @cwebber And I'd say "maybe the solution is to build a *good* natural language interface to the computer, so people use that instead" but I don't think a culture that believes LLMs are a computer interface (or are an "artificial intelligence"), could build or adopt such a system. If you put it side by side with the LLM the LLM will "win" because it is fail-open. A "good" interface would tell you when it can't do something, and then the user quits using it. An LLM can make something up.
-
@mntmn @cwebber And I'd say "maybe the solution is to build a *good* natural language interface to the computer, so people use that instead" but I don't think a culture that believes LLMs are a computer interface (or are an "artificial intelligence"), could build or adopt such a system. If you put it side by side with the LLM the LLM will "win" because it is fail-open. A "good" interface would tell you when it can't do something, and then the user quits using it. An LLM can make something up.
@mcc@mastodon.social @mntmn@mastodon.social @cwebber@social.coop Yeah, and a good computer interface needs to be precise and unambiguous. Natural language is notoriously ambiguous, e.g. pilots and air traffic controllers have to train using precise terminology and phrasing, because a misunderstanding can have catastrophic consequences. I highly doubt people who don't feel like learning a programming language would want to learn a similarly (possibly more strictly) formalized variant of their natural language.
-
@mntmn @cwebber And I'd say "maybe the solution is to build a *good* natural language interface to the computer, so people use that instead" but I don't think a culture that believes LLMs are a computer interface (or are an "artificial intelligence"), could build or adopt such a system. If you put it side by side with the LLM the LLM will "win" because it is fail-open. A "good" interface would tell you when it can't do something, and then the user quits using it. An LLM can make something up.
-
@mntmn @cwebber I think the single interesting thing LLMs have revealed is that there is a substantial market segment who has an active desire for natural language interfaces to the computer and who will flip from "do not engage to the computer" to "engage with the computer" if a natural language interface became available.
I do not personally want a natural language interface to the computer. I also do not believe the thing LLM vendors have built is a natural language interface to the computer
I think there's a broader corollary (or perhaps it's actually a central subset of what you describe).
I always thought most people shared my experience that the exciting thing about the Internet, and good Internet search in particular, was that it offered access to the most relevant sources of information for any query. It was then on me to assess these sources and try to understand the topic at hand.
LLMs have resoundingly demonstrated that for most people this is all too much work and reminds them of school.
A majority of people clearly don't want to have to put in so much effort. They'd rather have an unambiguous answer that comes back and that they can treat as authoritative.
Sidenote - this is why mansplaining is a thing.
So, the primary (and I would argue, intended) result of the current "AI" mania is that the world is happily replumbing all its information and knowledge streams so that everyone receives whatever sanctioned propaganda those behind the curtain want to shovel out. (Pick a metaphor and stick with it ...)
LLMs are an assault on human communication and our ability to reason, organise and plan. They are the oligarch's wet dream.
-
I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Noooooooooo
NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooLLMs are not compilers, and they're not assemblers. Determinism is a key aspect to assemblers and compilers.
And they *certainly* can't be part of a reproducible pipeline
@cwebber of course a deterministic LLM could be made. But ~noone would use it. Being able to reroll the dice is an important part of the confidence game.
-
@cwebber exactly this. on the flip side, their seemed to be a vast desire among management types and maybe hobbyists for some super easy super high level language. but idk if it's even worth going there. avoiding the details only works until it doesn't
@mntmn @cwebber management types have wanted this since the 1950s. it’s why COBOL and SQL exist; it’s why RAD exists. It’s why so called “4th Generation Languages” exist. Management would like nothing more to be done with needing to think about all those pesky details like “that’s a logical impossibility” or “that’s P=NP”, they want their word to be the word of god
-
I keep seeing lots of people saying "LLMs are like compilers/assemblers for prompts"
Noooooooooo
NooooooooooooooooooooooooooooLLMs are not compilers, and they're not assemblers. Determinism is a key aspect to assemblers and compilers.
And they *certainly* can't be part of a reproducible pipeline
We love it when changes have non-localized and unpredictable results;
-
@cstanhope @mcc @mntmn @cwebber I like it.
-
@ireneista @mntmn @cwebber well it's a general purpose UI *now* but only in a very monkeys paw way
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
-
@tridicomics > in ascesa rampante AfD, Reform UK, RN e tutte le altre formazioni neofasciste locali, e intanto lo stato sociale martoriato dai governi centristi. E non poteva essere che così, perché emigrare in comodità è un privilegio di classe per chi già appartiene alla borghesia globalizzata, e voglio vedere invece come si pongono politicamente e come stiano adesso lɜ emigranti italianɜ realmente proletariɜ che si spaccano la schiena come lavapiatti.
-
@tridicomics premessa: ci starebbe meglio il CW.
La fuga dall'Italia retrograda era l'aspettativa sociale esplicita imposta a tutte le persone della mia generazione e di quella subito prima: làureati in fretta con voti altissimi, fai due Erasmus da un anno ed emigra a fare i soldi. Ciò che ha prodotto è stata una intellighenzia di caviar gauche che ha sbandierato per 15 anni la superiorità morale delle civiltà germaniche, salvo poi accorgersi di avere >
-
Postilla 2: lɜ compagnɜ con occhi sognanti che sospirando dichiarano "aaaah come sarebbe bello trasferirsi in Spagna e prendere la cittadinan..."
NO VRP, NON PRENDI LA CITTADINANZA IN SPAGNA, PRENDI LA SUDDITANZA! SMETTI DI ESSERE CITTADINƏ E DIVENTI SUDDITƏ DEI BORBONI! HANNO COMBATTUTO UNA GUERRA CIVILE PER QUESTO E ORA IL NOME UFFICIALE DEL PAESE NON È REPUBBLICA SPAGNOLA MA FUCKING REINO DE ESPAÑA!
Maddoi, siamo così orfanɜ a Sinistra che abbiamo dimenticato pure le basi fondamentali !
-
-
Twelve Medieval Types of Drunk, According to Oswald von Wolkenstein - Medievalists.net
https://www.medievalists.net/2025/08/medieval-types-drunk/
> Medieval poet Oswald von Wolkenstein knew his way around a wine jug—and the many personalities it could unleash. In one lively poem, he catalogued twelve all-too-recognisable types of drunk, from the swaggering braggart to the repentant sinner.
-
Postilla: abbandonare 'sto cesso di paese dominato dalla piccola-media borghesia disumana e intimamente fascista (con quei brandelli rimasti dI proletariato che la seguono a ruota illudendosi di essere ceto medio) è una cosa che dovrebbe fare chiunque ha la possibilità e i mezzi... Se li avessi anch'io avrei già fatto le valigie da un pezzo, pure se mi piangerebbe il cuore lasciare Torino.
Emigrerei ovunque TRANNE CHE IN UN REGNO, SOPRATTUTTO SE DOMINATO PROPRIO DAI BORBONI DI SPAGNA !
-
@paoloredaelli per certi messaggi una sola risposta: 🗑️
-
@Uilebheist no, that's utf7
