eddotman

Was it tough to decide to quit your PhD? Or did you not enjoy your research much?

So some researchers notably have a view that LLMs are "just" language models in the pure sense, and we shouldn't read into them as anything more than parrots.

The other end would be to believe in LLM consciousness.

Personally I'm a nearly-pure pragmatist here: "does it matter much what level, if any, of deeper meaning or reasoning exists in LLMs if they can empirically solve useful problems? (NB unless we can exploit this reasoning for more utility)"

Curious to know where you land on this 👀.

I think the experience really varies. I'm in a PhD program now, where teaching/grading isn't mandatory at all. So pretty much it's just learning stuff and doing fun research. You are right about the pay difference though.

Having been on some scholarship committees in the past, the thing that's surprising to some people is that that sort of profile (good grades, club/sport involvement, good test scores) is actually just the bare minimum to get past the first filter of applicants. To win a big scholarship or to gain admission to a competitive program, a good way to set yourself apart is to pick something you're interested in (sport/hobby/whatever), and become measurably really good at it. e.g. win some award at the national or international level. Alternatively, start something new (club, company, etc.), and have a measurably large impact by doing so (e.g. $X dollars raised or gained in revenue).

It seems like lots of students are (appropriately) wowed by CERN and go on to pursue advanced degrees in HEP-ex and HEP-th. Do you think there is a real risk of overcrowding the field?