[davorak]

I do not think there are any documented cases of LLMs being reasonable friends or therapists so I think it is fair to say that:

> All LLMS are bad friends and therapists

That said it would not surprise me that LLMs in some cases are better than having nothing at all.

[glenstein]

Something definitely makes me uneasy about it taking the place of interpersonal connection. But I also think the hardcore backlash involves an over correction that's dismissive of llm's actual language capabilities.

Sycophantic agreement (which I would argue is still palpably and excessively present) undermines its credibility as a source of independent judgment. But at a minimum it's capable of being a sounding board echoing your sentiments back to you with a degree of conceptual understanding that should not be lightly dismissed.

[SketchySeaBeast]

Though given how agreeable LLMs are, I'd imagine there are cases where they are also worse than having nothing at all as well.

[davorak]

> I'd imagine there are cases where they are also worse than having nothing at all as well

I do not think we need to imagine this one with stories of people finding spirituality in llms or thinking they have awakened sentience while chatting to the llms are enough, at least for me.