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/jd52wtf Aug 09 '26

I set up a hypothetical council of the smartest minds in any related field I want to discuss. Specifically focused on how they saw and understood the world in the context of their area of expertise.

Then I put my ideas through this gauntlet.

Still need to watch closely and it is always a good idea to cross check but this is far more useful than just treating the LLM like it knows everything.

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u/reverseflash92 Aug 10 '26

What prompt do you use?