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.
Got it. For transparency, all of my writing is my own but I do use LLM editing to improve the clarity of it and read every output carefully (and fully) before publishing.
On my own it often takes me 5-10 minutes just to figure out how to phrase something simple clearly. Like for example I don't how how to say that the amount of my own words I put into the LLM exceed (sometimes double or triple) the output that I end up posting online.
I'm afraid you're getting a bit piled on in the replies because readers feel strongly about this. But I want to add one thing re this:
I do use LLM editing
What we're seeing is that LLM editing leaves nearly as many imprints on a text as outright generation, leading to two things: (1) it ends up sounding like AI, which most readers (at least on HN) don't want read, and (2) it ends up getting classified by the classifiers as genai anyhow.
What we're telling people (especially non-native English speakers) is to do their own writing and editing in their own voice and not to worry too much about minor mistakes - they are rapidly becoming signs of authenticity anyhow! Just worry about major mistakes, i.e. whether your main points are true.
While I appreciate your enthusiasm (truly), after two decades of writing I think I need to consider diminishing returns. I'd rather spend the time on thinking about what to say rather than how to phrase it.
how do I know which part is made up by the LLM or it's own interpretation or it's own opinion etc?
how can there be any value if I have to scrutinize every single word and decide whether it's truly what you intended to write or if it's mangling things, or if it's all just made up for engagement?
I've made this exact argument to other people, so I fully understand what you're saying here and agree with it.
I use the model in the same way a non-native writer would, for clarity. So it's critically important to me that there is no model interpretation or opinion added to my own.
I agree that whether it still counts as "my own" is up for debate. Made more complicated by the fact that I'm mostly using voice-to-text these days, so I'm dictating more than writing.
I'm not going to pile on by posting a moderation warning in this context, but I do want to respond to one point you made:
this hive of nobodies is allowed to run rampant here, with no moderation
You're quite right that there are many bad comments that don't get moderated on HN. The simple reason is that we don't see everything that gets posted here, or even 10%. There's far too much! It is humanly impossible to read it all (and would be, even if we didn't have many other time-consuming responsibilities, which we do).
Moderation is inconsistent, not primarily because we apply the principles badly (though perhaps we do—we're certainly imperfect), but because you're looking at a rather random sample of comments that have had moderator attention, and a whole lot more that haven't. Cnsistency is impossible (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...), for much the same reason that not everyone who is speeding on a highway gets pulled over.
Therefore, if you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...). You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com.
Unfortunately, this all boils down is a bad look. Anyone who reads HN a lot will see a lot of bad posts, including many that break the site guidelines and get away with it. That is going to create annoyance and irritation, and a lot of that is going to get directed at the moderators for being a bunch of... well, I'll let you fill in your own pejoratives. Too bad for us, but it does go with the job.
Well your team never fails to flag my comments when I am espousing a viewpoint that goes against an established community view, such as manic, unhinged hatred of America’s current leadership, or if I’m critical of Europe’s ability to ship a meaningful volume software products.
I have no idea if you’re an ideologue or not, but my perception of the moderation team here is that political ideology and general SV narratives dominate your moderation strategy.
While we’re on the topic — it would not be very costly for you to employ a local LLM cluster and work queue to auto-moderate geopolitical topics that aren’t “tech enough” from ever seeing the light of day. Because the way it’s working now is the “I hate Trump” people spew the most insane flamebait imaginable, but they ensure ALL replies that disagree are flagged.
Clear thinking and rationality is not being prioritized here like it used to be. If your team is trying to do that, then whatever methodology you’re using is not working.
Its good that you're listening to the lefties, but are you listening to the right too? You know the guys I'm talking about. Something tells me you might be giving your own a pass on this very behavior you're accusing us lefties of.
Whatever behavior you’re pretending is engaged in by the right certainly isn’t happening on this website. Leftism requires censorship to function. These mods know exactly what they’re doing.
Comments
[flagged]
Can you please not post AI-generated or AI-edited comments to HN? It's not allowed here - see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated and 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.
Got it. For transparency, all of my writing is my own but I do use LLM editing to improve the clarity of it and read every output carefully (and fully) before publishing.
On my own it often takes me 5-10 minutes just to figure out how to phrase something simple clearly. Like for example I don't how how to say that the amount of my own words I put into the LLM exceed (sometimes double or triple) the output that I end up posting online.
I'm afraid you're getting a bit piled on in the replies because readers feel strongly about this. But I want to add one thing re this:
What we're seeing is that LLM editing leaves nearly as many imprints on a text as outright generation, leading to two things: (1) it ends up sounding like AI, which most readers (at least on HN) don't want read, and (2) it ends up getting classified by the classifiers as genai anyhow.
What we're telling people (especially non-native English speakers) is to do their own writing and editing in their own voice and not to worry too much about minor mistakes - they are rapidly becoming signs of authenticity anyhow! Just worry about major mistakes, i.e. whether your main points are true.
That's part of writing, and it gets faster and easier the more you do it.
While I appreciate your enthusiasm (truly), after two decades of writing I think I need to consider diminishing returns. I'd rather spend the time on thinking about what to say rather than how to phrase it.
it's not your own if you pass it onto an LLM
then it's just LLM writings prompted by you
how do I know which part is made up by the LLM or it's own interpretation or it's own opinion etc?
how can there be any value if I have to scrutinize every single word and decide whether it's truly what you intended to write or if it's mangling things, or if it's all just made up for engagement?
I've made this exact argument to other people, so I fully understand what you're saying here and agree with it.
I use the model in the same way a non-native writer would, for clarity. So it's critically important to me that there is no model interpretation or opinion added to my own.
I agree that whether it still counts as "my own" is up for debate. Made more complicated by the fact that I'm mostly using voice-to-text these days, so I'm dictating more than writing.
You need more practice doing it (with your brain, not the model).
[flagged]
I'm not going to pile on by posting a moderation warning in this context, but I do want to respond to one point you made:
You're quite right that there are many bad comments that don't get moderated on HN. The simple reason is that we don't see everything that gets posted here, or even 10%. There's far too much! It is humanly impossible to read it all (and would be, even if we didn't have many other time-consuming responsibilities, which we do).
Moderation is inconsistent, not primarily because we apply the principles badly (though perhaps we do—we're certainly imperfect), but because you're looking at a rather random sample of comments that have had moderator attention, and a whole lot more that haven't. Cnsistency is impossible (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...), for much the same reason that not everyone who is speeding on a highway gets pulled over.
Therefore, if you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...). You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com.
Unfortunately, this all boils down is a bad look. Anyone who reads HN a lot will see a lot of bad posts, including many that break the site guidelines and get away with it. That is going to create annoyance and irritation, and a lot of that is going to get directed at the moderators for being a bunch of... well, I'll let you fill in your own pejoratives. Too bad for us, but it does go with the job.
Well your team never fails to flag my comments when I am espousing a viewpoint that goes against an established community view, such as manic, unhinged hatred of America’s current leadership, or if I’m critical of Europe’s ability to ship a meaningful volume software products.
I have no idea if you’re an ideologue or not, but my perception of the moderation team here is that political ideology and general SV narratives dominate your moderation strategy.
While we’re on the topic — it would not be very costly for you to employ a local LLM cluster and work queue to auto-moderate geopolitical topics that aren’t “tech enough” from ever seeing the light of day. Because the way it’s working now is the “I hate Trump” people spew the most insane flamebait imaginable, but they ensure ALL replies that disagree are flagged.
Clear thinking and rationality is not being prioritized here like it used to be. If your team is trying to do that, then whatever methodology you’re using is not working.
We can’t lose HN. But it feels like we are.
Its good that you're listening to the lefties, but are you listening to the right too? You know the guys I'm talking about. Something tells me you might be giving your own a pass on this very behavior you're accusing us lefties of.
Whatever behavior you’re pretending is engaged in by the right certainly isn’t happening on this website. Leftism requires censorship to function. These mods know exactly what they’re doing.
"pretending" good one lol