Hacker News Reader

Comment by cubefox | Hacker News Reader

Nitpick, but in my opinion an LLM is an "it", not a "her" or "he". Using male or female pronouns risks anthropomorphizing them which can lead to unhealthy outcomes.

View on HN

FYI in Chinese he/she/it all use the same pronoun "ta" when spoken.

They do have a separate character for animals and objects 它 vs 他/她, though I can imagine learning english and just learning ta = he.

There’s also one specifically for God - 祂, and one for animal - 牠, the first one you can see frequently in Chinese bibles or churches, the latter is rarely used.

What about languages, such as Russian, where every single noun has a gender assigned (he, she or it) and AI is a he by default (and everything else is already using pronouns in similar way, like a car is a she, a ship is a he).

That's a good point. Still, "it" makes more sense in English.

Sorry! I was just a bit excited writing the comment and ignored that :(

No worries.

For 60% of the world, it doesn't make a difference. Do not project your gendered (read: sexist) language constructs onto us.

Well, my LLM is a "he".

> Using male or female pronouns risks anthropomorphizing them which can lead to unhealthy outcomes.

Ditto for pets.

Well, I would say your LLM is a "he" just as much as your laptop is: not at all. If you call the laptop "he" that changes nothing.

For animals he/she does make sense, because they are male or female. An LLM is neither.

A goldfish is closer to a person than any LLM.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com