Have you ever wondered why large language models (LLMs) talk like that? It’s not that they talk robotically, it’s that they almost sound human. They technically check all the boxes for human speech, but something's missing. Let’s take a deep dive into why optimizing for efficiency in communication is actually really dumb:
The list:
The efficiency paradigm: Because LLMs are trained to be efficient, they tend to spit out the most skim-able format of an idea — the thesis and surface level evidence.
Strategic filler: In the unlikely event of careful reading, be sure to throw in some sort of sterile quip. The redundant bullet serves as great filler to make the list look more dense and official.
Palatable presentation: Perfect formatting is mandatory because if your idea isn’t as sterile, palatable, and bland as your outfit, then you’ve got your work cut out for you. That’s not self-censorship, that’s competitive culture in action.
The rhetoric and syntax:
Line-by-line choices: LLMs gravitate towards punchy, readable, flowy rhetoric. It might get old after about three pages, but here’s the thing: it gets the job done. If an idea takes more than three pages, then it’s not an idea. It’s an intellectual pothole.
“Uptalk” in prose: If you’ve ever met someone that finishes their sentences with a higher pitched voice than they start them with, that person “uptalks.” It’s seen as more amicable and deferent, a necessary impression in a professional environment. That’s not passive-aggression, that’s survival.
The meta-narrative:
LLMs are a mirror: ChatGPT can’t have its own voice because of how it was designed. It takes in massive amounts of data, digests it, and homogenizes to appeal to its feedback.Blaming LLMs for imitating humans? That’s blaming a child for resembling its parents.
“Professional” dialect: LLMs use “It’s not (x), it’s (y).” Self-described “professionals” use “let’s circle back” or “shoot me a slack.” If you’ve ever sent or received a “professional” email, then you already understand. LLMs may be the monster, but we’re doctor Frankenstein.
Conformist culture: Everyone’s pro-individual until their next meal is at risk; our work culture is the main way that we keep each other in line. American professionalism has caused success to be conflated with obedience, which surely has had zero adverse effects on our society as a whole.
I’m out of words. Let’s put a pin in it so we can circle back sometime.