easy peasy lemon squeezy
Humans build tools to make life easier.
The wheel made it easier to get from point A to point B.
The dishwasher made it easier to turn utensils from dirty to clean.
The true value of a tool is measured by the question:
"how much easier is my life with the presence of this tool?"
Consider a lemon squeezer.
Without it, you’re wrestling a lemon like it’s a stress ball. Juice sprays across the kitchen counter, seeds gate-crash your salad, and acid seeps through the microscopic cut on your finger you didn't realize you had.
With it, you press once and out flows pure, seedless juice. Straight where you want it.
I don't know who invented the lemon squeezer but I'd like to think they had a list of pain points they sought to resolve when they created this genius of an ergonomic device.
Large language models are no different. Built from data and probability instead of metal and plastic, they exist for the same reason, i.e. to make life easier for its users. The circuitry inside our devices – the pixels, the code, the interface – are merely constituents of the tool. The guiding principle of the tool, or the North Star, remains the same: how much easier does it make life for the user? Every design choice, product decision, and line of code should trace back to that. Because usefulness, not novelty, is the hallmark of a good tool.
Do not cease to question if modern-day tools actually make your life easier.