Comment by dijksterhuis

> LLMs do not output computed or measured values.

LLMs output a vector of softmax probabilities for each step in the output sequence (the probability distribution). Each element in the vector maps to a specific word for that sequence step. What you see as a "word" in LLM output is "vector position with 'best' probability in softmax probability distribution".

And that is most definitely a computed value. Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

https://medium.com/@22.gautam/softmax-function-the-unsung-he...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349823091/figure/fi...