LLMs are bullshitters. But that doesn’t mean they’re not useful
LLMs are bullshitters. But that doesn’t mean they’re not useful 19 Nov, 2025 Note: This is a personal essay by Matt Ranger, Kagi’s head of ML In 1986, Harry Frankfurt wrote On Bullshit. He differentiates a lying from bullshitting: Lying means you have a concept of what is true, and you’re choosing to misrepresent it. Bullshitting means you’re attempting to persuade without caring for what the truth is. I’m not the first to note that LLMs are bullshitters, but I want to delve into what this means. The bearded surgeon mother Gemini 2.5 pro was Google’s strongest model until yesterday. At launch it was showered with praise to the point some questioned if humanity itself is now redundant. Let’s see how Gemini 2.5 pro fares on an easy question: This is some decent…
