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Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

factful.io

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Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#131

Post by bruce511 »

paulcole wrote: post #127
spencerflem wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's grim. Don't light yourself on fire to keep others warm or nothing, but in my experience most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. This sort of hustle culture belief is definitely present in the world, especially among finance and us techie types, but there's tons of examples of people Not acting like this. Teachers don't do it for the pay, etc. There's a reason meaningful jobs tend to pay…

> most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. Are they actually making the world better or just hoping they can? Everybody in the developed world, if they wanted to make the world better, would live drastically differently because of their impact on the environment/climate change. But it’s more fun to just say that we’re hoping to make the world better so we don’t have to acknowledge how selfish w…

I agree that most (privileged) people behave selfishly. You don't have to look far to see that. That doesn't make it good.

Which is why advice to be explicitly selfish is jarring. We don't need advice yo do that, we excel at it naturally.

There are however great rewards to be had from being unselfish. We can see that around us too. Being at least aware of our proclivities is the first step in discovering the benefits of countering them.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#132

Post by paulcole »

bruce511 wrote: post #131
paulcole wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. Are they actually making the world better or just hoping they can? Everybody in the developed world, if they wanted to make the world better, would live drastically differently because of their impact on the environment/climate change. But it’s more fun to just say that we’re hoping to make the world better so we don’t have to acknowledge how selfish w…

I agree that most (privileged) people behave selfishly. You don't have to look far to see that. That doesn't make it good. Which is why advice to be explicitly selfish is jarring. We don't need advice yo do that, we excel at it naturally. There are however great rewards to be had from being unselfish. We can see that around us too. Being at least aware of our proclivities is the first step in discovering the benefits…

If people are naturally selfish and they’re giving you advice to not be selfish, why aren’t they taking their own advice? And why should you take theirs?

It’s like a burglar telling you it’s a good idea to leave your doors unlocked.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#134

Post by bruce511 »

helloduck1234 wrote: post #31
dweinus wrote: post #17

Andrew, you and your friends should be proud. It's really encouraging to see people, especially in your generation, thinking seriously about the problem of misinformation. There are fundamental challenges you all will face in this idea: - most current LLMs are trained on large amounts of web data that itself contains facts, opinions, and misinformation. These things are treated equally, so I would expect the LLM to g…

Yea, thank you for your feedback!

I'll add, that although this is a good project, it really doesn't matter if it works or not.

I don't mean the fact checking part - thats legitimately a good thing to pursue. What I mean is that the value of this (to you and your co-creators) has enormous value to you way beyond the social good it might provide.

For example at some point you're going to have to deal with nuance. Things are rarely purely right or wrong. (The earth is not round, but its a good first approximation for geological beginners.)

So, I'd encourage you not to measure success here with "does it work", or how many users, or if LLMs are a suitable approach, or any metrics like that. The goal here shouldn't be popularity or "correctness".

The most value you will get is the experience of building something, ideally in team. Of facing road-blocks and challenges and overcoming them. Or, to put it another way, have fun. And things that are easy are not fun...

Congrats on the project. May it lead you forward to discovering more about how to code, more about the world, more about yourself. Don't shy away from the hard questions. But above all keep it fun.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#135

Post by megaloblasto »

Keep up the good work! This is very impressive. Keep on crafting your skills. Since you asked for feedback and you seem to have a lot of potential, here's my 2 cents. As you go through life searching for your passions, don't forget to be kind to people along the way, and don't let the old people boss you around. Good luck!

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#136

Post by softsound »

paulcole wrote: post #127
spencerflem wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's grim. Don't light yourself on fire to keep others warm or nothing, but in my experience most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. This sort of hustle culture belief is definitely present in the world, especially among finance and us techie types, but there's tons of examples of people Not acting like this. Teachers don't do it for the pay, etc. There's a reason meaningful jobs tend to pay…

> most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. Are they actually making the world better or just hoping they can? Everybody in the developed world, if they wanted to make the world better, would live drastically differently because of their impact on the environment/climate change. But it’s more fun to just say that we’re hoping to make the world better so we don’t have to acknowledge how selfish w…

Sometimes the best one can do is try. It's worse to give up.

And are you a good judge on if it's better? Better can be very complicated, it could be better in part and worse in another but it's not wrong to try... (Unless well it really becomes really corrupted) We as people tend to overcorrect and so life will always swing from one end of a spectrum to another.

I think people do want to do good in the world they just get overwhelmed, or think it's impossible, or discredit the small good things they do.

Sometimes people think if you don't do a major good thing all the small things don't add up - honestly though it's often better to do smaller good long term things then a major non lasting one.

Besides the world is getting greener, healthier and happier all the time if you look in the right places. You will always find what you ask for, so look for good and you will find it. I follow so many YouTube channels showing how much the environment is improving and how such small things really get better. I try to sponsor them when I can and I hope to do more in the future too.

I also personally grow local fruit trees and various plants in my backyard to help local native species and while minor I am doing something even if small.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#137

Post by _akhe »

xyst wrote: post #106

The "AI based startup" scene is flooded with many of these. What makes you different? I tried to gauge quality using chatgpt-3.5, 4.0, and your tool. chatgpt produced better results. Appreciate the hustle, but the hype around AI is fizzing out tbh.

It's not fizzing, you're going to be able to say:

  render 40 hours of Harry Potter film based on every detail of all books
or:

  create a sequel to Titanic where Leo DiCap comes back from the dead and rezzes Godzilla
and you'll be able to watch that. Imagine that in every content vertical, we haven't even scratched the surface.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#138

Post by _akhe »

SPBS wrote: post #22

This speaks more as a testament to your web developer skills (at 16!) than your actual value as an... AI startup. Keep it up, your career should be rosy.

Seems like it could be a useful fact check service provider, wherever that might apply (social media apps, news sites, etc.).

Would come down to how nice the libraries are for developers, and how good the SaaS UI and pricing is.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#139

Post by paulcole »

softsound wrote: post #136
paulcole wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people are hoping to make the world better where they can. Are they actually making the world better or just hoping they can? Everybody in the developed world, if they wanted to make the world better, would live drastically differently because of their impact on the environment/climate change. But it’s more fun to just say that we’re hoping to make the world better so we don’t have to acknowledge how selfish w…

Sometimes the best one can do is try. It's worse to give up. And are you a good judge on if it's better? Better can be very complicated, it could be better in part and worse in another but it's not wrong to try... (Unless well it really becomes really corrupted) We as people tend to overcorrect and so life will always swing from one end of a spectrum to another. I think people do want to do good in the world they jus…

> I follow so many YouTube channels showing how much the environment is improving and how such small things really get better. I try to sponsor them when I can and I hope to do more in the future too.

I take back everything I said about people being selfish.

Thank you for your service.

Re: Show HN: I'm 16 and building an AI based startup called Factful with friends

#140

Post by bruce511 »

paulcole wrote: post #132
bruce511 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that most (privileged) people behave selfishly. You don't have to look far to see that. That doesn't make it good. Which is why advice to be explicitly selfish is jarring. We don't need advice yo do that, we excel at it naturally. There are however great rewards to be had from being unselfish. We can see that around us too. Being at least aware of our proclivities is the first step in discovering the benefits…

If people are naturally selfish and they’re giving you advice to not be selfish, why aren’t they taking their own advice? And why should you take theirs? It’s like a burglar telling you it’s a good idea to leave your doors unlocked.

Lots of people act, at least partially, in unselfish ways.

Selfishness is not a binary characteristic. There are degrees of selfishness - and spheres of selfishness.

Just because something is in our nature, it does not mean we have to behave that way all the time. Most people are neither purely selfish, nor purely unselfish.

To answer your question though, since selfishness exists on a scale, your assumption that people offering advice are not also practicing it is, at best, a conclusion without data.

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