Bliki: LLM Voice

Sometimes when I read a post, I get the growing feeling that I'm reading the output of an LLM. I can't necessarily define why, although there are the common tells (it's not the em-dashes, it's the load-bearing tapestries). As I do this my desire to read on atrophies, sometimes to the point of revulsion

There are tools out there that cliam to be able to tell the difference between LLM-written prose and the old-fashioned biological product. I'm wary of them, partly due skeptism about their accuracy, but also because it rather misses the point. The reaction to LLM-Voice is a human one, that sense that we are in an uncanny valley of prose. By the time I'd reach for a tool to tell me what I'm reading, it's already too late, even if it confidently tells me there's no LLM present.

I'm also suspicious of my own ability to accurately recognize LLM voice. Language changes over time, so a common sign of age is complaining about the language of the youngs. I'm inclined to bristle at prose that talks about “adopting a new sales motion,” or “a sharp round-up of news”. But I've heard these constructs coming out of human mouths, so that's more a generational difference rather than between carbon and silicon. (And as a transplanted Brit, don't get me started on Americanisms, I'm sure I'll get used to them momentarily.)

Right now I urge authors to be extra-wary of LLM-Voice. In particular I strongly recommend that authors should not fall into the trap of getting the LLM to write a draft. Even if it's edited by a human, it's very hard to expel the LLM-Voice - thus causing the uncanny valley reaction. 1 Even accepting suggestions of rephrasing is dangerous. I have heard of people using LLMs to develop outline and structure, that may be ok, but only as far as an outline. 2 Authors should fill the prose themselves.