I do not want AI to "polish" me • Hacker News Board

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#31

Post by pjc50 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:34 PM UTC

flatline wrote: post #26

> It’s like my whole computer is a toddler screaming “LET ME DO IT!” every time I try to create something. Every autocorrect or auto suggestion ever has felt like this to me, but the volume has been turned up to 11. The otherwise drab Adobe Reader is covered with colorful sparkly buttons and popups suggesting I need not even read the document because it can give me “insights.” First, no you may not ready my proprieta…

> no you may not ready my proprietary document, nor do I suspect most people using this particular software - I only have it for digital signatures - have permission to share IP with a third party.

This is a massive liability that almost everybody seems to be ignoring. My employer has a ban on using AI on IP until this is properly resolved, because we actually care about it leaking.

Maybe an Information Commissioner will get round to issuing a directive some time in the mid-2030s about how none of this complies with GDPR.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#32

Post by burkaman » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:34 PM UTC

Obviously the AI version is bland and terrible, but arguably more importantly it has also completely changed the meaning of the message. The AI version:

- apologizes

- implies the recipient was "promised" this email as a "response" to something

- blames a hectic schedule

- invites questions

None of this was in or was even implied in the original. This is not a "polished" version, it's just a straight-up different email. I thought that style transfer while maintaining meaning was one of the few things LLMs can be good at, but this example fails even that low bar.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#33

Post by ubermonkey » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:35 PM UTC

A quick glance suggests that, because the site is pretty far afield of usual HN fare, folks here don't realize that Lawson is the author of several books.

I personally do not want you -- for any value of "you" -- to use an AI to "polish" any writing sent to ME. I want the author's actual thoughts, not their thoughts massaged by an LLM.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#34

Post by whywhywhywhy » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:35 PM UTC

tlonny wrote: post #19

AI "polishing" tools are essentially a form of anti-compression. Lets take some information represented concisely and needlessly pad it with formalities and waffle so it appears more "professional" (whilst also throwing away useful "metadata" like message tone). No doubt the recipient will also be using some form of AI summarization that strips away all that added "polish" - making the whole exercise entirely redunda…

Why read something someone couldn't be bothered to write.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#35

Post by nottorp » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

idoco wrote: post #22

I get the frustration, but I think there’s a hidden assumption in this discussion: that everyone can write well in English. Only about 5% of the world’s population are native English speakers, but more than twice that number use it daily. For many, AI rewriting isn’t about losing personal style—it’s about making sure they can communicate clearly in a language that isn’t their first. It’s fair to dislike how AI flatte…

You somehow assume that being a native english speaker is correlated to being able to write well in english.

It's how well you know english that's correlated to being able to write well in english instead.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#36

Post by ipsento606 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

I simply do not understand the end game of these sorts of features.

Presumably, the idea is to make the other person think you've written the email yourself, and you're a "better"/more corporate/more professional writer than you actually are.

But once everyone starts using this kind of transformer, so nobody assumes that anyone else is actually writing the content they're sending out -- what's the point?! Who benefits?

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#37

Post by pjc50 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:37 PM UTC

idoco wrote: post #22

I get the frustration, but I think there’s a hidden assumption in this discussion: that everyone can write well in English. Only about 5% of the world’s population are native English speakers, but more than twice that number use it daily. For many, AI rewriting isn’t about losing personal style—it’s about making sure they can communicate clearly in a language that isn’t their first. It’s fair to dislike how AI flatte…

AI translation is definitely a great enabler, both for written material and things like live subtitles, but people are already aware that translations are imperfect and can be disputed. Something that anime fans can get very heated about.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#38

Post by sieabahlpark » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:37 PM UTC

oglop wrote: post #16

bloomingkales wrote: post #3

There is no way in hell anyone who knows me would get that email and not think I’d been abducted This person cares about not putting up a fake identity. That's pretty cool, but social media has exposed that a large number of people are perfectly fine presenting an illusion. People will have no shame passing off well written things as an output of their talent and hard work. Digital makeup has no bounds.

[flagged]

[dead]

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#39

Post by nicbou » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:37 PM UTC

AI takes the personality out of written communication, and swaps it with a bland corporate persona. I want to know that I am working with actual human beings. It reassures me to know that if something goes wrong, I can appeal to those human beings, and not to soulless corporate automatons working off of a flowchart.

Re: I do not want AI to "polish" me

#40

Post by nottorp » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 2:38 PM UTC

ubermonkey wrote: post #33

A quick glance suggests that, because the site is pretty far afield of usual HN fare, folks here don't realize that Lawson is the author of several books. I personally do not want you -- for any value of "you" -- to use an AI to "polish" any writing sent to ME. I want the author's actual thoughts, not their thoughts massaged by an LLM.

"NYT bestselling author" too. Whatever value that holds.

But I think it's a safe assumption that she can write well when she wants to.