Comment by calmoo

6 months ago

I don't want to call you out unnecessarily, but your writing heavily smells of LLMs.

edit: looks like i'm not the first person to notice this either regarding this poster. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44279662

I think we have a duty to call this out, before the web becomes ridden with slop.

15 comments

calmoo

Reply
starchild3001  6 months ago

Yes, I occassionally use LLM for edits and re-writes. Opinions are mine. I thought most people do these days?

(Re: Other post you linked to. it is entirely my own thoughts.)

  • tomhow  6 months ago

    We prefer the raw, flawed original version than the AI-polished version on HN. It makes HN feel more real and authentic. If other community members notice that your writing seems AI-enhanced, you've taken it too far.

  • calmoo  6 months ago

    I do admit your post had some apparent substance to it (at least from my naive perspective), but that substance is really diminished when it's passed through an LLM. I think something is lost when someone's unique writing is 'planed' by AI. I'd really encourage you to avoid this kind of editing and just use your own words.

sapphire42  6 months ago

The comment you're replying to is 100% AI-generated. How does obviously LLM-generated content continually make it to the front of HN, and why in God's name are you being downvoted for calling this out??

"...a fascinating approach..." (LLMs think everything is fascinating)

"...they're essentially having a generalist learn from a committee of specialists..." (analogies, analogies)

"...where APIs are undocumented, partial failures are common, and user input is full of ambiguity..." (typical AI rule of three template with semantically similar parameters that contribute nothing to the overall meaning)

  • calmoo  6 months ago

    It does worry me how defensive people can become over really obvious slop - I don't think I'm even particularly attuned to the style of LLM writing but it is incredibly obvious every time I see it. It's only going to get worse I think.

  • unshavedyak  6 months ago

    > and why in God's name are you being downvoted for calling this out??

    Tinfoil hat time, but perhaps the bots don't like being called out? I don't actually take that statement seriously, but it seems an eventual avenue. They've long been seeding threads on Reddit to shape initial hive mind, i imagine that's going to get more advanced and widespread.

jasonjmcghee  6 months ago

> ...is what really stands out to me. The idea of...

> ...are pure gold for anyone working in this space...

Specifically OpenAI

dwaltrip  6 months ago

I see your points, but is this actually slop in this case? Is the comment incorrect or misleading at all?

It felt interesting and informative to me, but I didn’t verify any of it.

Good eye btw.