---
title: "LLMs are very good at Family Feud."
date: 2024-10-04
summary: "Large language models are very good at one kind of answer, the consensus answer. Used correctly, they are an amplifier for human creativity."
url: "https://nathanphinney.com/llms-are-very-good-at-family-feud/"
author: "Nathan Phinney"
author_role: "COO, AllSafe IT"
author_url: "https://nathanphinney.com/about/"
same_as: ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney"]
expertise: ["IT", "InfoSec", "Managed Services", "Cybersecurity", "Business Operations", "Technology for Escrow Companies", "Technology for Nonprofits"]
updated: 2026-10-10
---

Hey.  
  
We need to have a talk about "AI."  
  
Large language models use algebra and predictive text to generate responses to prompts. The grandfather of this technology was the predictive text on your Nokia phone in 2006. You would say "I am going to the-" and like magic - the word "store" would appear on the tiny LCD screen. How did it know?  
  
It knew that response was likely because that is the word that usually comes next in the context you provided.  
  
Similarly, TikTok knows you like anthropomorphic kittens and burnout videos because you stare at those videos longer than the other ones.  
  
There is one kind of answer that LLM's are very good at providing.  
  
A consensus answer.  
  
It's going to say the thing that most people would say. AI is the most amazing technology to be introduced in my lifetime. It is also a lie.  
  
It's not intelligent. It can't think or dream or plan or want things. It can only respond to stimulus and provide a consensus answer. LLMs would win every game of **Family Feud,** and always pick the answers in order.  
  
The thing that makes humans bad at **Family Feud** is what makes us good at creating things. The survey says that the best answer to "something you find in a drug store" is drugs. A human might say "a humidifier." And suddenly we are engaged in a completely different way, because humanity isn't uniform.  
  
"AI" is essentially a calculator for words, and while that is game-changing, curve-jumping, world altering technology, it isn't a replacement for human creativity.  
  
Used correctly, this is an amplifier for human creativity.

## About the author

**Nathan Phinney**, COO, AllSafe IT.

- Co-founded Bright Bear Technology Solutions (2010 to 2020), which reached the CRN MSP 500 and Ingram Micro SMB 500 lists before its 2020 acquisition by Datapath.
- 17 SOC 2 initiatives across six companies, never an exception on an effort he led
- Member of InfraGard
- Member of the XChange Advisory Board, The Channel Company (2018 to 2022 and 2026)
- Author of _CTRL ALT SURVIVE: The Secrets of My Small Business Success_

Expertise: IT, InfoSec, Managed Services, Cybersecurity, Business Operations, Technology for Escrow Companies, Technology for Nonprofits.

Featured in: CRN (7 articles, 2019 to 2026), Backblaze, Bigleaf Networks, Channel Partners Expo, GTIA, Orange County Business Journal. See https://nathanphinney.com/press.md

Recommended on LinkedIn by Brook Porter (Partner and Co-Founder at G2 Venture Partners; previously at Kleiner Perkins, where he worked with Al Gore) and Tim Acker (Former channel chief at Lumen).

More: [About Nathan Phinney](https://nathanphinney.com/about.md) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney)