From Coding Burnout to Medical Breakthroughs: Real-World Problems Solved by LLMs

While the initial purpose of large language models (LLMs) might seem abstract, their practical applications are solving a diverse array of real-world problems, ranging from daily productivity boosts to life-saving interventions. Users are integrating these tools into their lives and work in ways that were previously difficult or impossible.

A Better Front Door to the Internet

A recurring theme is the mass migration away from traditional search engines like Google. Frustrated with SEO-optimized, ad-heavy, and often low-quality search results, many now turn to LLM-powered tools like Perplexity for their informational needs. Whether it's for fact-checking, product research, or travel planning, users prefer the synthesized, table-formatted answers that LLMs provide. This allows for a better starting point for deeper research, cutting through the noise of affiliate marketing.

For those still needing the human element, a common workaround is to use search operators like site:reddit.com or simply append "reddit" to a query to find authentic user opinions and discussions.

The Ultimate Coding and Productivity Partner

For software developers and technical professionals, LLMs have become an indispensable tool. Key benefits include:

• Overcoming Burnout and Inertia: Several users reported that AI helped them break through years of burnout and creative blocks. By handling tedious setup, debugging, and boilerplate code, LLMs lower the barrier to starting and, more importantly, finishing personal projects.
• Accelerated Learning: When onboarding to a new job, developers are using tools like Claude and Gemini to digest large, unfamiliar codebases. The AI can explain business logic, design patterns, and framework specifics, significantly reducing the time it takes to become a productive contributor.
• Democratizing Automation: Individuals in non-coding roles are now able to automate complex business processes. By describing the desired outcome in plain English, they can generate scripts that would have previously required hiring a full-time developer.
• Everyday Assistance: For common tasks like remembering syntax for a specific language, writing regular expressions, or fixing grammar, LLMs serve as an instant, interactive reference manual.

An Unexpected Lifesaver: Medical Diagnosis

Perhaps the most profound impact reported is in the medical field. Multiple anecdotes highlight the power of LLMs in navigating complex health issues:

• One user’s father, experiencing a heart attack alone, used an LLM to identify the symptoms and was urged to go to the ER, a recommendation that proved life-saving.
• Another individual's child, suffering from persistent seizures, was correctly diagnosed with a rare disease (MOGAD-FLAMES) by an AI after multiple hospitals failed to find the cause. With the right diagnosis, the child recovered rapidly.
• Others have used LLMs to get a correct diagnosis for complex autoimmune diseases, interpret dozens of blood tests, and even understand MRI scans, leading to effective treatment plans confirmed by neurologists.

These stories suggest that while not a replacement for doctors, AI can be a powerful tool for differential diagnosis, especially with rare diseases where individual physicians may lack specific expertise.

A Tool for Thought and Learning

Beyond specific tasks, LLMs are also being used as learning aids and thinking partners. Students use them as tireless tutors for college-level math, getting unstuck on problems without waiting for office hours. Professionals use them as a "MECE machine" to ensure their thinking is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, saving significant time in strategy and analysis. For writers, they help overcome the blank page by generating rough drafts and organizing thoughts, smoothing out the creative process.