Yes, and that statistically filled data is insanely useful. It remains true that it's a relatively poorly understood how this can be applied in various scenarios and what processes are needed to ensure robust results (or quantify the uncertainty).
LLMs generate text output that appears to be useful, but regularly is not. They're alleged to be a substantial boost to writing code, but that verdict seems to be in dispute. They can generate custom mediocre prose at scale, but that seems to be of ultimately limited utility (although it may be a godsend for propagandists).
We're coming up on the 4th anniversary of ChatGPT's release. And while I get that revolutionary technologies can take a while to mature, the Wright Brothers and Goddard weren't preaching imminent societal transformation by the end to the decade from the rooftops, either. (And that's before we get into the how they got there - getting to ignore laws and steal whatever they wanted might be insanely useful to a lot of people.)
Yes, you can use it to generate crap. I find Claude especially bad at writing like a normal person.
Gulling humans.
This is the primary strength of LLMs and the emtire secret to their current success.
No, they are empirically useful, and only getting more useful. This is not even a debate anymore.
No they are not perfect, nor do they produce the best code. But the undeniable reality is that any good engineer will produce more code, at higher quality, using an LLM.
So, that’s not really up for debate. The debatable part is if all that code is a good idea or has as much value as we think. The conversation has long moved passed “can LLMs write code?”. Yes, they can, very well, particularly if they’re steered by trained engineers.
I can see that some people can make some use of them. (This is true of almost everything.) Whether or not that usefulness is worthwhile overall, whether it is a net good, or even ethical is a different question. But insanely useful?
Computers are insanely useful. So are engines. Water. Sunlight. Electricity. Grain and bread. Writing. Printing. And I don't feel bad making those sorts of comparisons, because that's the level of impact LLMs' advocates are promising. But it's not what we have.
What I would consider sufficient evidence for insanely useful? Reliably replace a human in prolonged, arbitrary, detailed interaction, without any inhuman screwups.