Comment by dang
1 day ago
Can you please not post AI-generated or AI-edited comments to HN? It's not allowed here - see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340079.
Of course, it's impossible to know for sure what was LLM processed or not, but some of your posts (like this one) have been getting classified that way.
It is a very sensible and reasonable comment- literally all questions I'd want to ask to replicate the setup, in a format that's easy to parse. If the author did use LLM it did not substantially alter the content of their question.
I thought it was a reasonable comment and, like you, I thought they were good questions. I haven't followed what kind of watermarking LLMs are putting in their output that might be a telltale for their use so maybe it's readily apparent in a way that isn't to me.
I'd be mortified if a comment I made was accused of being LLM-edited or "created". I don't use any of that junk but if I'm reading LLM output and not realizing it I just might be adopting some of its mannerisms and styles with realizing it. That's chilling.
I ended up discussing it with the moderators and they interpret "transcribe and formatting" as contributing enough that they want to "educate" the user to not do that.
In my mind, using an LLM to lightly format a legitimate questions falls below any threshold I'd apply to AI-written writing. I often dictate HN messages to my phone, and in my case, personally edit the message (tediously), but if there was a tool that produced text that looked lightly LLM, I wouldn't care about it at all.
It's not a big deal because in five years, the idea of chiding a user for using an LLM to enhance their text is going to be considered ridiculous. I've lived through enough computer revolutions to know this; once, I didn't get a job (in ~1989) because I could type 80wpm but made a bunch of errors... on a typewriter! The agency told me they needed people who could type 80wpm on a typewriter.
For whatever it's worth: It's definitely phrased a bit strangely but it passes my own sniff test. If they really are using a dictation-oriented method for getting text into a box (as they wrote in a followup reply to themself) then that may adequately explain the strangeness.
There was a time when scanning and [photographic] printing of 35mm film negatives was what I did for a living; it's likely that I've touched more film than most people ever will. I think they're asking questions that are a good combination of solid, thoughtful, and practical.
I can see why this comment would trigger people's AI alarm, especially if it fits a pattern for this user. The questions seem legit at first glance, but completely uninteresting. Too general and specific at the same time, if you see what I mean.
I don't know what indicators HN is using but Pangram says this is AI text.
Who cares? The comment stands on its merit.
7 replies →
Dang, would you reconsider your message here? I think it was uncalled for and chilling to legitmate discourse.