Post

In elementary school, my teacher did this exercise with the class where one student was "the machine" and one was "the brain". Both students would compete to answer a series of math questions for which "the brain" had to answer them manually and "the computer" *must* use a calculator.

17/7/26, 6:29 pm0 reposts1 like

Tommy McCormick

@jan0ski.net

17 July

The questions would vary in difficulty - "the machine" would dominate the complex questions to start, then "the brain" would win handedly at simple arithmetic. "The machine" would get frustrated at the constraint of needing to punch in "2 x 2" before answering. I think about this a lot these days.

Tommy McCormick

@jan0ski.net

17 July

Lots of disagreements about AI seem to paint LLM users as "the machine" - being required to punch in each and every question or problem they come across. While this is possible - and probably unhealthy - dismissing all LLM use as this mindless behavior is just not anchored in reality.

Tommy McCormick

@jan0ski.net

17 July

We should be critiquing the result not the tools. There is excess in being "the machine" at every turn, but criticism should be specific to the *outcomes* of this to be helpful in finding the balance between the two roles.