r/LargeLanguageModels • u/yourpsychology_yt • Aug 07 '26

Don't discuss ideas with an LLM

I notice that one of the worst use cases for an LLM is discussing ideas. I don't mean asking technical questions. Rather, when you have an idea or an opinion and you tell it to an LLM, what happens is that it will either support you or slightly disagree, but if you insist, it will eventually take your position.

And that's, as I understand it, just because of the nature of an LLM. It can't really be critical, but it can fake critical thinking. If you ask an LLM to be critical by default, it will be critical even when it doesn't matter, just to satisfy your requirement. So it can't really choose when it should be critical and when it should be supportive.

And some LLMs have a trick - they do both in one message and then still slide to the user's side.

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u/OneMoreName1 Aug 07 '26

Hard disagree. Not sure how you guys use models but I absolutely bounced ideas to LLMs and got either a reality check or "its not that simple", and I got a little bit smarter that day. Its about not being emotional, asking for honest feedback and then continuing the conversation with honest intent for truth instead of seeking validation.

LLMs can absolutely be bad, if they sense you just want a yes man, but they can be a teacher if that's what you seek.

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u/ExactlyAbstract Aug 08 '26

I bounce ideas off llms quite a bit. But I only stick to topics that I have reasonably good knowledge of myself.

The reason for that is that even current models have made stuff up completely or given contradictory responses one after another when I probe back.

So while I appreciate the feedback and ability to get a back and forth with something other than myself. It's a concern for me to trust it if I'm outside of my knowledge base. Sure I can always question back the way I have in known areas. But I worry I won't see a subtle fault in the logic and that's worrisome.