this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2024
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I recently set up a LLM to run locally on my desktop. Now that the novelty of setting it up and playing with different settings has worn off, I'm struggling to come up with actual uses for it. What do you use it for when not doing work stuff?

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[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 33 points 7 months ago (2 children)

The only thing I've found them actually useful for is generating random lists for my D&D games.

When it comes down to needing some mundane descriptions, its great having an LLM brainstorm for you. "Give me 10 examples of weird things I might see in jars in a witch's hut." This works well because you can just cut the 5 you don't like and use the other 5 to brainstorm your final list.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 7 months ago

This is the only thing I use it for in personal life. Every town my players visit now has a gift/t-shirt shop - I feed it details of the location have it spit out 20 t-shirt ideas and 5 are something I can work with. My players have started collecting t-shirts.

Or I describe a monster or bit of homebrew and have it suggest names, I suck at names. GPT also sucks at names but after enough suggestions there'll be something that works.

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[–] GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social 26 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I feed it TOS, Service Agreements, etc and have it simplify and summarize them so i can have a general idea of what is in them without 10 minutes of reading.

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)
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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (5 children)

Brainstorming ideas; it's something to bounce ideas off and see what can be tweaked.

Single-player D&D. Can setup multiple players/characters and a DM and just play D&D by myself, which is rad.

Having conversations with fictional characters. Like Data from Star Trek.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 4 points 7 months ago

That sounds lonely.

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[–] kazren@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Messing with a win11 laptop recently, I asked copilot how to disable copilot. After a couple of tries it told me.

That's about it.

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[–] CumBroth@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Among other things: Cooking. They're really helpful in those situations where I have a bunch of ingredients lying around in my pantry but I lack concrete recipes that can make a proper meal out of them.

[–] General_Effort@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

That's good. I have to tr...ohmygoddidittellyoutomakecumbroth

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[–] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

I mostly just use them to help write Python scripts.

[–] RanchOnPancakes@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

None. I avoid them when ever possible which thus far is most of the time.

[–] AlexanderESmith@kbin.social 12 points 7 months ago (8 children)

Absolutely nothing, because they all give fucking useless results. Hallucinates, is confidently wrong, and isn't even grammatically competent (depending on the model). Not even good for a draft, because I'd have to completely rewrite it anyway.

LLMs are only as good as the guys training it (who are mostly morons), and the raw data they train on (which is mostly unaudited random shit).

And that's just regular language. Coding? Hah!

Me: Generate some code to [do a thing].
LLM: [Gives me code]
Me: [Some part] didnt work.
LLM: Try [this] instead.
Me: That didn't work either.
LLM: Try [the first thing] again.
Me: ... that still doesn't work...
LLM: Oh, sorry. Try [the second thing again].
Me: ...

Loop continues forever.

One time I found out about a built-in function that I didn't know about (in LLM generated code that didn't work), and read the manual for it, and rewrote the code from scratch to get it working. Literally the only useful thing it ever gave me was a single word (that it probably found on Superuser or StackExchange in the first place).

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Wow, you get two whole answers?! Lucky, I just get the same goddamned response repeatedly until I yell at it or until it gives up.

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[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago

I used openAI/whisper to transcribe several thousand .wav files full of human speech (running locally). Much faster than trying to listen to them myself. It wasn't perfect but the error rate was within acceptable levels.

[–] xePBMg9@lemmynsfw.com 10 points 7 months ago

Instead of reading a manual file for the badrillionth time, I ask it how a shell command should be formated. If it is easy, it gets it right away and I say "oh, yea, that's right". If it is hard, I still get a starting point and can correct it fairly quickly. I ask it for translations when learning a new language, which I've been doing lately. This it excel at. Even languages that conventional machine translation fails at. I asked chatgpt for Minecraft blocks with some specific set of desirable redstone properties that I didn't want to dig through a wiki to find. This one had varying success. It is not aware of every odd redstone secret, but it can spit out something useful if you are lucky. I had a quick poem made for one of my rp characters. We had a 5 minute break and I wanted something that made sense for the next scene. Some quick directions to the LLM and a little shoveling paragraphs around and there you go.

I also have tried some light rp with the ai for entertainment. I tried merging harry potter and star trek once. It was mildly entertaining.

If you know how they are dumb and where they kinda work, you can get stuff done. Especially if the answers are easily verifiable. That about summs up how I use them.

[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Friend, code, search engine, writing, cooking ideas, sexy time, exploring psychology, therapist, etc.

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Sexy time? You use it to talk to you erotically?

[–] pendulum_@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Virtual partners are indeed a thing.

One of the more popular ones a few months ago decided to nerf the sexy time talks, which was intersting in how much it emotionally hurt users. They described feeling like their virtual partner was no longer the same person that they'd fallen for. Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-03-01/replika-users-fell-in-love-with-their-ai-chatbot-companion/102028196

There are also huge fears of how much data harvesting they are capable of performing.

I'm in two minds. On one, they are definitley not real. They are code. But on the other, the epidemic of lonely human beings is only getting worse with time and not better, and anything that can help people feel less lonely has to be a good thing, right?

[–] magn418@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

I assume (from your user handle) that you know about the allure of roleplaying and diving into fantasy scenarios. AI can do it to some degree. And -of course- people also do erotic roleplay. I think this always took place. People met online to do this kind of roleplay in text chats. And nowadays you can do it with AI. You just tell it to be your synthetic maid or office affair or waifu and it'll pick up that role. People use it for companionship, it'll listen to you, ask you questions, reassure you... Whatever you like. People also explore taboo scenarios... It's certainly not for everyone. You need a good amount of imagination, everything is just text chat. And the AI isn't super smart. The intelligence if these models isn't quite on the same level as the big commercial services like ChatGPT. Those can't be used as they all banned erotic roleplay and also refuse to write smutty stories.

I agree with j4k3. It's one of the use-cases for AI I keep coming back for. I like fantasy and imagination in connection with erotics. And it's something that doesn't require AI to be factually correct. Or as intelligent as it'd need to be to write computer programs. People have raised concerns that it's addicting and/or makes people yet more lonely to live with just an AI companion... To me it's more like a game. You need to pay attention not to get stuck in your fantasy worlds and sit in front of your computer all day. But I'm fine with that. And I'm less reliant on AI with that, than people who use AI to sum up the news and believe the facts ChatGPT came up with...

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[–] Wereduck@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I use Chatgpt 3.5 both personally and at work for tip of the tongue questions, especially when I can't think of a word. Sometimes as a starting point when I have trouble finding the answer to a question in Google. It can sometimes find an old movie that I vaguely remember based on my very poor descriptions too.

For example: "what is the word for a sample of a species which is used to define the species" - tip of the tongue, holotype. "What is the block size for LTO-9 tape" - wasn't getting a clear answer from forums and IBM documentation is kind of behind a wall, needed Chatgpt to realize there was no single block size for tape.

It's excellent for difficult to search things that can be quickly verified once you have an answer (important step, as it will give you garbage rather than say it doesn't know something).

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

needed Chatgpt to realize there was no single block size for tape.

Did it clearly say so or did you figure it out because it gave incompatible or inconclusive answers?

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[–] 7uWqKj@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

Nothing. Remember that bartender from the original Star Wars?

[–] pocopene@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Homework for my 7yo: Please, write a short story, around 300 words. I want a prince named Anna on it, and a unicorn, a castle and a treasure must be mentioned too. At the end, write for questions related to the tale.

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I built an entire multiverse for mine with different worlds and heroes and villains related to each subject. It gives me lesson plans, related stories, science experiments, Minecraft projects, the prompts to put in dall-e for respective images, etc etc, and I create him "issues" of his magazine that combine all the elements.

[–] callouscomic@lemm.ee 8 points 7 months ago

Nothing. Never used.

[–] zakobjoa@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

I occasionally use LLMs to generate a set of characters for a TTRPG, if I don't have the time to prepare and/or know we'll play a very limited scenario in terms of who my PCs are able to meet. This is especially true for oneshots where I just don't want to put too much work in.

I recently built a scenario for a cthulhu themed scenario, that was set in a 1920s Louisiana prison and planned for two to three sessions. I just had an LLM do a list of all the prisoners and guards on the PCs block, with a few notes on the NPCs look and character. This drastically reduced the time I had to put in preparing the scenario.

[–] HarbingerOfTomb@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I use Gemini often for writing thank you notes.

[–] julianh@lemm.ee 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Nothing because it sucks and isn't worth the effort if you have an Internet connection and any knowledge on how to use a search engine.

[–] LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 7 months ago

Fair point. Im mostly using it for fun though anyways. Any real info i need i do actual research on.

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[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 7 months ago

I use Google Translate and DeepL almost every workday for translation stuff.

ChatGPT I use rarely. When I have trouble wording something, I does provide a good starting point though. For example I had to write a birthday card for a business relationship and it helped me greatly with that.

No need for generation so far. No pics, videos in my line of work and coding it always just produced garbage for me. I'm faster on my own and the usual googling. Is that a GPT 3.5 issue? I don't have a paid plan.

[–] ensignrolaren@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I used ChatGPT this morning to create a Firefox extension for my favorite website (to allow me to speed up audio playback as desired.) just a few minutes’ back-and-forth and it works perfectly. If you’ve got a favorite site with a UI that you r always wanted slightly tweaked, you could try making a browser extension to do that!

[–] Addition1291@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

Sometimes I have it re-write emails for me if I feel like my tone is off. Once in a blue moon I'll use an LLM to write a trivial AHK script. I also use AI art bots for throwaway character art for NPCs in my D&D campaign.

Beyond that, almost never.

[–] Speculater@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Maybe unethical, but I have mine participate in Twitch chats to see if it passes as human and surprisingly it does. People ask it questions and it randomly responds to users with either agreeable or disagreeable responses.

[–] LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz 4 points 7 months ago

That sounds fun. Though, im not sure most of the twich chatters would pass as human in some of the streams ive been in.

[–] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I have a GUI to interface with locally-run image generators that I sometimes use when I need art for D&D.

[–] WormFood@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

if I wanted access to a constant stream of confidently-stated misinformation I would simply open Reddit

[–] pedz@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 months ago

I use it to consume huge quantities of energy because I despise the human race and life on earth.

[–] VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 7 months ago (7 children)

Playtesting ttrpg campaigns, mostly. Can be more helpful than just playing it through solo, but LLMs tend to be really fucking uncreative.

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[–] Willie@kbin.social 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There's not really any use for them. There are really no tasks they can help a normal person with in their everyday. I guess you could talk to it like it's a person, but that's sad, and is probably unhealthy, and you should probs just talk to a real person instead.

Now if you do some specialized tasks, like programming, but aren't very good, I guess I can see some use for them.

I'm having trouble seeing any uses for them beyond those though.

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[–] kromem@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I find the state of the art models are finally getting good enough they are wonderful for rubber ducking abstract ideas.

Also code generation.

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[–] poopsmith@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I use it all the time to help simplify long excerpts, giving me an introductory gist of what something says.

[–] Daxtron2@startrek.website 4 points 7 months ago

Lots of stuff but primarily code generation, code explanation, comment generation, and simplification of technical medical documents to plain English.

[–] mondoman712@lemmy.ml 4 points 7 months ago

I've been using one to write cover letters for job applications. It takes a bit of wrangling to get anything, and then a bit more to get it to actually say things that aren't total bullshit, but I find it less tedious than writing them myself.

[–] UnpluggedFridge@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

I use LLMs all the time for work and hobbies, but my work and hobbies are well suited for LLM assistance.

Writing boilerplate documents. I do this for work. I hate it. LLMs are very good at it.

Writing boilerplate code. I do not like writing docstrings, making my code more maintainable, enforcing argument types, etc. I do a lot of research code and I need to spend my time testing and debuging. I can feed my spaghetti into an LLM and it will finish out all the boilerplate for me.

[–] Klnsfw@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 7 months ago

The only use I have for AIs is to translate from my mother tongue into English, to chat online. I could write directly in English, but it hasn't been worth it for a few years.

[–] Gabu@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Inspiration. Specially when they hallucinate crazy stuff, it makes for good paintings.

[–] Kase@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Literally the only time I've used one, I was upset about something and just wanted somebody to talk to. Sooo I vented to chat gpt. ¯⁠\⁠(⁠°⁠_⁠o⁠)⁠/⁠¯

It felt sorta like talking to a therapist, except its tone was very formal/polite and every once in a while it asked you to choose between two different responses (for training or whatever), which would be pretty strange for a human to do.

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[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

I've had pretty good luck getting cocktail recipes out of chatgpt. They sometimes need a little tweaking but it hasn't steered me horribly wrong yet.

I'm also going to be officiating a wedding for a friend in a few months, so I've been using it to work out what I want to say for the ceremony.

I have a coworker who's been taking some college classes. He struggles a bit with writing papers, he knows all the material just doesn't quite know how to get started putting things down on paper. I told him to give it a try, with some strong warnings to rewrite and fact-check everything it spits out, and so far it's been working out great for him and he's been heeding my warnings, he pretty much punches in some prompts and bullet points and then goes through and rewords everything it spits out and fact-checks it as he goes.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 3 points 7 months ago

I use bing chat/copilot to help me with writing powershell scrpts

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