I see them as funhouse mirrors, the kind that reflect your image to make you skinny or fat, except they do it with semantics, big deal. I've never had an interaction with an llm that wasnt just repeating what I said more verbosely, or with compressed fuzzy facts sprinkled in.

There is no machine spirit that exists in a box separately from us, it's just a means for people to amplify and multiply their voice into ten thousand sock puppet bot accounts, that's all I'm able to grasp anyway. Curious to hear your experience that's led you to believe something different.