Computer programs have been posting on social media since before the term was coined. I'm sure I've heard of someone who got tired of arguing on USENET and just set up an auto-responder that used a Markov chain based on the other person's own words.
The thing about LLMs is, while most people leave the personality as the easily recognisable default voice (and naturally other people come to hate that voice), they absolutely can act almost any voice. To follow the same example as before, I had it generate some personas and then write in those personas, but I didn't direct pro- or anti- position specifically and it chose for itself on each:
{laconic, wry, resigned, autodidact, Finnish/Finnish, left-libertarian}
Water has fluoride. So do toothpaste and rats. You decide.
(Finnish ESL tone: omission of articles, flat mood, preference for brevity)
{verbose, theatrical, irritable, Sorbonne, French/French, centre-left (social democrat)}
It is outrageous that in 2025, our governments still engage in mass-medication via tap water. Fluoride, like liberty, must be chosen, not imposed. Vive le droit de choisir!
(French ESL: overly formal tone, article misuse avoided but style remains florid and Gallic)
{precise, clinical, emotionally flat, ETH Zürich, Swiss/German, centre-right (technocratic)}
Fluoridation reduces dental caries by 25% in controlled trials. Adverse effects statistically negligible. Debate should remain evidence-based.
(No major ESL errors, but very literal syntax and emotionally muted, as per Swiss German influence)
{boisterous, jovial, sentimental, regional uni, Irish/English, centre-left populist}
They put fluoride in the water but won’t fix the bloody pipes. Classic. You’re meant to feel lucky your molars are safe while the ceiling leaks.
(Native English, but strong regional flavour, irony, and working-class resentment)
{aloof, didactic, melancholic, Heidelberg, German/German, post-Marxist}
Fluoridated water is another instance of technocratic paternalism: health as mandate, not autonomy. Benevolent control remains control.
(German ESL: rigid word order, elevated diction, abstract nouns over verbs)
Computer programs have been posting on social media since before the term was coined. I'm sure I've heard of someone who got tired of arguing on USENET and just set up an auto-responder that used a Markov chain based on the other person's own words.
The thing about LLMs is, while most people leave the personality as the easily recognisable default voice (and naturally other people come to hate that voice), they absolutely can act almost any voice. To follow the same example as before, I had it generate some personas and then write in those personas, but I didn't direct pro- or anti- position specifically and it chose for itself on each: