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Half of LLM users (49%) think the models they use are smarter than they are, including 26% who think their LLMs are “a lot smarter.” Another 18% think LLMs are as smart as they are. Here are some of the other attributes they see:

  • Confident: 57% say the main LLM they use seems to act in a confident way.
  • Reasoning: 39% say the main LLM they use shows the capacity to think and reason at least some of the time.
  • Sense of humor: 32% say their main LLM seems to have a sense of humor.
  • Morals: 25% say their main model acts like it makes moral judgments about right and wrong at least sometimes. Sarcasm: 17% say their prime LLM seems to respond sarcastically.
  • Sad: 11% say the main model they use seems to express sadness, while 24% say that model also expresses hope.
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[-] x00z@lemmy.world 13 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Well, if somebody thinks this, it's kind of true isn't it?

[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

No. People think things that aren't smarter than them are all the time.

[-] DeusUmbra@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

Remember that 54% of adults in American cannot read beyond a 6th grade level, with 21% being fully illiterate.

[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

No, 21% struggle with basic literacy skills. They're illiterate, but not fully illiterate.

[-] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 10 points 1 day ago

21%

What the fuck

[-] Houseman@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

People can improve literacy in adulthood if they try.

[-] ComradeRachel 6 points 1 day ago

Our education system in the USA is so bad. 😔

[-] forrcaho@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

As far as I can tell from the article, the definition of "smarter" was left to the respondents, and "answers as if it knows many things that I don't know" is certainly a reasonable definition -- even if you understand that, technically speaking, an LLM doesn't know anything.

As an example, I used ChatGPT just now to help me compose this post, and the answer it gave me seemed pretty "smart":

what's a good word to describe the people in a poll who answer the questions? I didn't want to use "subjects" because that could get confused with the topics covered in the poll.

"Respondents" is a good choice. It clearly refers to the people answering the questions without ambiguity.

The poll is interesting for the other stats it provides, but all the snark about these people being dumber than LLMs is just silly.

[-] booly@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

Nearly half of U.S. adults

Half of LLM users (49%)

No, about a quarter of U.S. adults believe LLMs are smarter than they are. Only about half of adults are LLM users, and only about half of those users think that.

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

to be fair they're American and they're LLM users, so for a selected group like that odds are they really are as stupid as LLMs.

[-] collapse_already@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 day ago

LLMs don't even think. Four year olds are more coherent. Given the state of politics, the people thinking LLMs are smarter than them are probably correct.

literally dogs are smarter and have more reasoning ability.

[-] weew@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Than half of LLM users? Probably

also that, yes.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

Next you'll tell me half the population has below average intelligence.

Not really endorsing LLMs, but some people...

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[-] TrojanRoomCoffeePot@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago

moron opens encyclopedia "Wow, this book is smart."

[-] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago

If it's so smart, why is it just laying around on a bookshelf and not working a job to pay rent?

And you know what? The people who believe that are right.

Note that that’s not a commentary on the capabilities of LLMs.

[-] skozzii@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's sad, but the old saying from George Carlin something along the lines of, "just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that 50% are even worse..."

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oh my god 49% of LLM users are pathologically stupid.

and still wrong.

[-] bhamlin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Still better than reddit users...

where do you think these idiots spend their time?

[-] bhamlin@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

I try not to think about them, honestly. (งツ)ว

[-] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 14 hours ago

you're a healthier person than I.

[-] ItsJannnneee 19 points 1 day ago

If you don't have a good idea of how LLM's work, then they'll seem smart.

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[-] futatorius@lemm.ee 29 points 1 day ago

Half of all voters voted for Trump. So an LLM might be smarter than them. Even a bag of pea gravel might be.

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[-] GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago

i guess the 90% marketing (re: linus torvalds) is working

[-] Zink@programming.dev 11 points 1 day ago

If I think of what causes the average person to consider another to be “smart,” like quickly answering a question about almost any subject, giving lots of detail, and most importantly saying it with confidence and authority, LLMs are great at that shit!

They might be bad reasons to consider a person or thing “smart,” but I can’t say I’m surprised by the results. People can be tricked by a computer for the same reasons they can be tricked by a human.

[-] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

So LLMs are confident you say. Like a very confident man. A confidence man. A conman.

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[-] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 day ago

The average literacy level is around that of a sixth grader.

This tracks

[-] GoodOleAmerika@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

"US".... Even LLM won't vote for Trump

[-] Grizzlyboy@lemm.ee 35 points 1 day ago

It’s like asking if you think a calculator is smarter than you.

[-] Dayroom7485@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

„It‘s totally a lot smarter than I am, no way could I deliver (234 * 534)^21 as confidently!“

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[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

I believe LLMs are smarter than half of US adults

[-] MrAlternateTape@lemm.ee 18 points 1 day ago

That is the problem with US adults. Half of them probably is dumber than AI.....

[-] JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago

"Half of LLM users " beleive this. Which is not to say that people who understand how flawed LLMs are, or what their actual function is, do not use LLMs and therefore arent i cluded in this statistic?
This is kinda like saying '60% of people who pay for their daily horoscope beleive it is an accurate prediction'.

[-] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They are. Unless you can translate what I'm saying to any language I tell you to on the fly, I'm going to assume that anyone that tells me they are smarter than LLMs are lower on the spectrum than usual. Wikipedia and a lot of libraries are also more knowledgeable than me, who knew. If I am grateful for one thing, it is that I am not one of those people whose ego has to be jizzing everywhere, including their perception of things.

[-] caden@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 day ago

The statement is "smarter", not "possesses more information". None of the things you listed (LLMs, libraries, Wikipedia, etc.) have any capacity to reason.

[-] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The only thing you've argued is that you are choosing one particular definition of smart, ignoring the one I was using, and going all Grammar Nazi into how that's the only possible definition. As I've said, if I am grateful for one thing, it is that I am not one of those people whose ego ^is^ ^shallow^ ^enough^ ^to^ has ^/have^ to be jizzing everywhere, including their perception of things.

[-] tvbusy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 day ago

LLM is proof that even if you're extremely stupid, having access to information can still make you sound smart.

[-] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago

This is sad. This does not spark joy. We're months from someone using "but look, ChatGPT says..." To try to win an argument. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life explaining to people that LLMs are really fancy bullshit generator toys.

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[-] communism@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 day ago

Given the US adults I see on the internet, I would hazard a guess that they're right.

[-] tad_lispy@lemm.ee 16 points 1 day ago

If we are talking about American adults, I guess they might be right.

[-] Telorand@reddthat.com 184 points 2 days ago

Think of a person with the most average intelligence and realize that 50% of people are dumber than that.

These people vote. These people think billionaires are their friends and will save them. Gods help us.

[-] scarabic@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

The average person doesn’t know what a median is.

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[-] fubarx@lemmy.world 48 points 2 days ago

“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” ― George Carlin

[-] Naevermix@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Hallucination comes off as confidence. Very human like behavior tbh.

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this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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