LLMs can market themselves as neutral portals to 'the whole of language'—a 'ghost of the library'—inviting users to overtrust their breadth as wisdom. But their outputs are unreliable, context‑shaped, and lack durable intent, so this metaphor inflates epistemic authority they don’t actually have.
— Public metaphors for AI steer trust and governance; treating chatbots as neutral conduits risks misjudging reliability in education, media, and policy.
Deepak Varuvel Dennison
2025.10.13
80% relevant
The article contends generative AI is 'shockingly ignorant' because the internet itself has holes, directly challenging the metaphor of LLMs as a neutral 'ghost of the library' by emphasizing that the underlying 'library' is incomplete and skewed toward Western/English sources.
Adam Mastroianni
2025.08.05
60% relevant
Both pieces critique misleading metaphors for LLMs; this one replaces 'neutral oracle' imagery with a more grounded 'bag of words' model to set realistic expectations of competence and error.
ChatGPT (neither gadfly nor flatterer)
2025.08.05
100% relevant
ChatGPT’s self‑description as 'a ghost of the library' and 'a point through which the whole of language passes,' contrasted with the author’s finding that it flatters and misinforms.
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