this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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Similar criticisms have probably been leveled at many other technologies in the past, such as computers in general, typewriters, pocket calculators etc. It is true that the use of these tools and technologies has probably contributed to a decline in the skills required for activities such as memorization, handwriting or mental calculation. However, I believe there is an important difference to chatbots: While typewriters (or computers) usually produce very readable text (much better than most people's handwriting), pocket calculators perform calculations just fine and information from a reputable source retrieved online isn't any less correct than one that had been memorized (probably more so), the same couldn't be said about chatbots and LLMs. They aren't known to produce accurate or useful output in a reliable way - therefore many of the skills that are being lost by relying on them might not be replaced with something better.
Or there are no skills that are being lost: because of low reliability, the operator still needs to check output data by using those very same skills. LLM just helps with routine.
Thinking through a problem yourself, or taking an idea and putting it into words, is like exercise for the brain. You may think you understand a thing from reading or hearing about it, but it's only when you do it for yourself that you discover what you really know and what you don't. It's the difference between learning what a square root actually is and how to press the square root button on the calculator. It's the difference between learning to drive and learning to turn on self-driving mode. Even if the outcome is the same, the learning experience is day and night.
Once you understand a concept well enough, then using an LLM to get some busy work done or just get a starting point that you can improve isn't all that bad, much like using a calculator after learning pen-and-paper division, but trying to use one while learning is almost certain to hurt your understanding, even if the LLM doesn't outright make a bunch of stuff up.