Scott Jenson talking about anthropomorphizing of LLMs and touching upon the difference between summary and shortening. I recommend reading the entire post to avoid taking the subtext below out of context..
[…] we say they can “summarize” a document. But LLMs don’t summarize, they shorten, and this is a critical distinction. A true summary, the kind a human makes, requires outside context and reference points. Shortening just reworks the information already in the text.
Here is an example using the movie The Matrix:
Summary
A philosophical exploration of free will and reality disguised as a sci-fi action film about breaking free from systems of control.
Shortening
A computer hacker finds out reality is fake and learns Kung Fu.
There’s a key difference between summarizing and simply shortening. A summary enriches a text by providing context and external concepts, creating a broader framework for understanding. Shortening, in contrast, only reduces the original text; it removes information without adding any new perspective.
naveegator.in 