Asking a LLM for help is fine

Posted on May 14, 2025

tl;dr: AI helps people ask questions they might be too shy to ask out loud. Like Google before it, it's a useful tool—not perfect, but practical. Encouraging self-research isn’t dismissive; it builds autonomy. Human connection matters, but it doesn't need to rely on easily searchable questions.

I read an David Gerard’s post and I don’t really get the point of condemning the use of AI as a helper.

I think a lot of people are affraid to ask for help at work or anywhere else. They worry it’ll make theme look stupid or they’ll be judged by their peers or by their boss.

So, if we take a step back and look at the problem at the bigger picture, AI is a good way (not the best) to ask some questions without disturbing your peers or colleagues from something you think can be silly. We can argue that the answer from the LLM is not always correct and can be mistrusted by the user who asked. This a valid concern but not at every level for any query. LLM can be used for a lot of things and can serve as a thinking partner on a wide range of topics. So does it depend? Yes, unfortunately and we will have a definitive answer about that before years I think.

On the individual level, i think it’s pretty “healthy” to have such behavior. It show people asked questions, have doubts and are curious. They think and sometimes might reflect on things. So actually, I think it’s excellent to have such tools to offer a way to individual to asked easily and/or silly questions.

There was a time when people used to say « if you don’t know, ask to Google » or «Google it before ask ». It might sound basic now but i don’t remember no one made of such a fuss about that. And yet, asking an LLM for help is basically the same reflex. The Google relfex (or the LLM reflex) might be a generational thing. For the one who grew fully online, Googling can be a second nature.

While writing this post, I started wondering why some people are bothered by the idea of “just Google it" or ask to an LLM. I came across some reactions that surprised me.

Some argue that telling someone to “Google it”, is a way to avoid helping. I get that. But I’m a bit shocked by how harsh the critiscism can be. To me, actually, i think it’s encouraging to help to be more autonomous. If every little query tunrs into a question to someone else, it’s not really a good thing. I think, as an autodidact and curious person, that this curiosiy have to be cultivated by everyone and doing your own research before asking nurture your abilty to stay curious and fosters autonomy.

Another point mention that human connection is needed and “stupid question " might be a way to interact and connect with each other. I’m ok with this argument but seriously, it’s weak. You can connect and interact without asking things that can be found on a Google/LLM . And let’s be real, how will be the “human connection” in the long run with these questions? The risk is you will annoy or disturb your friends until exhaustation.