A user shared on Reddit an example of an unexpected response obtained from a large language model (LLM). The peculiarity lies in the fact that the initial request was not accompanied by a system prompt, that is, preliminary instructions that guide the behavior of the model.

Analysis of the response

The response, although unexpected, demonstrates the model's ability to generate coherent text even in the absence of a defined context. This raises questions about the predictability and control of model outputs, especially in scenarios where greater precision or adherence to specific guidelines is required.

General considerations on LLMs

Large language models are complex systems that learn to generate text from enormous amounts of data. Their adaptability makes them versatile, but also difficult to fully control. Defining effective system prompts is essential to direct the behavior of the model and obtain results in line with expectations. For those evaluating on-premise deployments, there are trade-offs that AI-RADAR analyzes in detail on /llm-onpremise.