Gains from LLMs for India

Source: The post is based on the article “Gains from LLMs for India” published in “Business Standard” on 26th June 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

News: LLMs (Large Language Models) like ChatGPT are useful tools which will impact learning, working and exporting. The need is to devise mechanisms to harness their strengths and avoid their pitfalls.

What are the pitfalls of LLMs?

Firstly, LLMs are trained on the text available over the internet. But most of the text on the Internet is problematic and this is going to get worse, as the Internet is about to grow a hundred-fold with LLM-generated content.

Secondly, LLMs lack a critical sense in assembling the information from the internet, in judging what is appropriate and what is not and in forming a coherent picture.

Thirdly, LLMs can make things up and slip that into the output. (Hallucination)

How LLMs will impact worker productivity in India?

A study “Generative AI at Work” on the impact of generative AI found 14 percent gains for weak employees. However, it also found that it will not be beneficial to skilled employees.  

At best, these tools can close the productivity gap between Indian workers and those from any first-world organization.

India has a very large low-capability workforce. LLMs can increase the productivity of these workers.

Why is a complex management system required for LLMs?

Mistakes made by LLMs are obvious to an expert, but a novice may not be able to point them out.

Therefore, a multi-layer management system for LLMs is required. In this system, first drafts will be produced by juniors using LLMs, which will be reviewed by experts. So that any mistake of the draft can be corrected by an expert.

There are at least three situations where a multi-layer management system for LLMs will yield great results:

1) Email-based customer support: With LLM support, the headcount of employees will go down and their productivity will go up. The minimum bar for recruitment in the Indian labour market might go down, thus permitting going down to workers with lower wages. This will yield improved profit.

2) Computer programming: ChatGPT is useful for translating a programme from one language into another, which Indian software companies do a lot. LLMs for programming can help build code that is inexpensive to maintain and enhance.

3) English communication: A lot of the Indian workforce has poor English and writes bad text in their communications. LLMs can help convert prompts into sound English, and thus improving intra-organisation information flows.

Experts are needed to spot the mistakes made by the LLM. Becoming an expert takes decades of learning and practice. LLMs can disrupt this process as the beginners are not  following the conventional learning practices now.