Will LLMs be Good for Autists?

...

My answer is yes, and that term may include a lot more people than you might think.

Take for instance this recent podcast conversation between Steve Hsu and Katherine Dee…

Katherine Dee: I've always been pretty awkward. I remember thinking when I got a laptop in 2004, I think. And I remember thinking like, thank God, like now I could just go to my room and I don't have to interact with other people. Because it was so painful.

It was, I mean, I'm such an awkward person. For a long time, I couldn't make eye contact with people. I definitely can now. But it was just, I am very bad at reading social cues. So, such a welcome reprieve. I just preferred it so much more. And it wasn't that I didn't like to socialize per se. Like I did a lot of text-based roleplaying. I was really into MMOs. You know, all sorts of chat rooms for sure. And that, to me, was like a much more comfortable way of socializing. You know, I didn't necessarily have a lot of friends at school, but it didn't mean I didn't have friends. I had digital friends.

Steve Hsu: Now back then, the term autism was not much used. Do you think you're slightly on the spectrum and when, and if so, when did you start thinking that?

Katherine Dee: So there is a moment in, I mean, so the short answer is I used to, and then I figured that I don't really think that's the case. But there was a moment, and I can't remember when, it might have been like around 2007 when autism started to become trendy, right? You, so you had that movie Adam come out, which was a romcom about an autistic man. Then like a couple years later, the Big Bang Theory came out and we had sort of this autism moment. And it was interesting because it collided with, you know, the anti-vax movement peaking and all of these mothers saying that vaccines have given their kids autism. But at the same time, it was sort of being like, glorified in the media. So were sociopaths. It was like a very weird, weird moment in entertainment.

And when that happened, I was like, oh maybe that's me. But I don't really think that's true because I've learned to read people. I think what it is, is that I didn't socialize enough when I was very young. And I think, at least one of my parents, I won't say which one, is on the spectrum. And when I was modeling that behavior, I think I'm a functioning person who was raised by autists and that sort of colored my [experience]. That plus the heavy computer use, kind of puts me at a disadvantage.

Steve Hsu: That's super interesting. I mean, among sort of brainy types, like in science, there are some I think real autists, but then there are also people who I think are just for some reason started out a little bit socially awkward, and then because they have these super rational brains, they sort of dissected social customs like in an analytical way and then somehow manage to blend in and that sounds a little bit like your story.

Katherine Dee: Yeah a little bit. I mean, I really do think we underprice social awkwardness married with the fact that like a lot of people aren't like born into communities in the same way. Like, you know, I didn't have a religious community necessarily, or a cultural community. It was sort of like we would live in these gated communities where we wouldn't... you know, these neighborhoods where we wouldn't like to know our neighbors and my parents weren't super social. So if you grow up kind of isolated, it sort of looks like autism, but it's really just like you need to learn some things from other people.

There is also the matter of ADHD, which I do not view as being entirely distinct from autism.

Tyler Cowen writes,

I view many ADHD individuals as very smart and able, but doing poorly when they cannot control the pace, intensity, and direction of their learning.  (Ever see people who can’t pay attention in class, or who nod off during academic lectures and can’t sit still?  But will work for hours on their own tasks?) 

A few general observations on this:

1. Such individuals tend to oscillate between being extremely engaged and totally checked out. A new topic comes up in the middle of lecture and the quiet kid in the back is suddenly participating. Though what they have to say may not always appear entirely related…

2. As a result of such context dependence, grades and assessments can be quite volatile. The most successful ADHD/autists will find ways to match with evaluators who are amenable to their idiosyncrasies or else pursue a vocation that is not so dependent on evaluations. It is not always clear which path to pick.

3. I have noticed that academic seminars in economics tend to have several clear examples of the people we are talking about… but they are much less common among the younger faculty and students. Perhaps the untenured are good at masking their autistic tendencies and/or the field is becoming less tolerant of this cognitive style.

“Post-autistic economics” (Wikipedia)

ChatGPT and related tools are likely to be a boon to autists for reasons that mirror the above:

1. It will make it easier for them to control their learning and compensate when the standard lecture model doesn’t work for them.

2. GPT will greatly improve the lower bound of autists’ mentor match and provide a great deal of supplementary mentorship volume as well. In time, GPT may also shape standardized forms of instruction and evaluation to their benefit.

3. Disruptive AI technology will create many opportunities for talented autists to forge their own entrepreneurial path, whether by founding formal enterprises, building a unique presence online, or pioneering the new fields of academic study that will inevitably be created. It’s an exciting time to be alive.

---

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, I would appreciate if you would share this article with a friend or leave a comment. Also check out my interview with Katherine Dee—she’s really great.