ChatGPT is a household name now. Most people don't know GPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer" and honestly, why would they? To users, it's a box where you ask anything and get an answer with reasoning. Incredible. A technological breakthrough.
The name tells you everything.
Generative: the model creates text (or images, videos, audio, software code).
Pre-trained: it learned from existing data, not real-time information.
Transformer: a type of neural network architecture that processes patterns in sequences.
Nothing in that name says "truth engine" or "fact database". It says "pattern-based text generator."
At its core, artificial intelligence processes data, identifies patterns, and follows instructions. It cannot think, empathize, or reason. Instead, it replicates how people use knowledge without actually understanding it.
The disconnect between what the technology is (a transformer generating text based on training) and how we use it (as an oracle for answers) is where, in my eyes, danger lies. It’s when we trust these confident-sounding responses for important scenarios such as medical advice, legal guidance, or financial decisions.
The Google replacement that isn’t
When you ask Google a complex question, you get links (at least, before the AI Overview feature). We were used to scanning links, picking sources, and doing the thinking ourselves. Now, when you ask an LLM, you get an answer that feels like understanding, because they're better at understanding intent and context. Google requires translating problems into keywords.
LLMs let you explain problems like you would to a colleague. That's powerful, even when the response is hallucinated nonsense, such as an example I mentioned in an earlier blog: advising people to eat rocks.
What LLMs think they are
I asked several leading generative AI chatbots to define the strength of an LLM in a single sentence. Yes, I'm aware of the irony.
Notice the focus on patterns and generalization.
'Correct', 'well-reasoned' and 'context-aware', but what is 'correct'?
Very much to the point: generating text.