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Slop Terrifies Me

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Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#41

Post by suddenlybananas »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #27

Our paper on removing AI slop got accepted to ICLR 2026, and it's under consideration for an IgNobel prize: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15061 Our definition of slop (repetitive characteristic language from LLMs) is the original one as articulated by the LLM creative writing community circa 2022-2023. Folks trying to redefine it today to mean "lazy LLM outputs I don't like" should have chosen a different word.

Words expand meanings all the time and frankly I don't think your narrow definition of slop was ever a common one.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#42

Post by nkrisc »

gib444 wrote: post #33
satisfice wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is exactly the motivation. The problem with being a billionaire is you still have to associate with poor people. But imagine a world where your wealth completely insulates you from the resentful poor.

How does a billionaire have to associate with poor people? They can live in a complete bubble: house in the hills, driven by a chauffeur, private jets, private islands for holidays etc...?

Unless they’re living entirely by themselves, they will always be dependent on poor people.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#43

Post by KurSix »

outime wrote: post #11

> 90% is a lot. Will you care about the last 10%? I'm terrified that you won't. I feel like long before LLMs, people already didn't care about this. If anything software quality has been decreasing significantly, even at the "highest level" (see Windows, macOS, etc). Are LLMs going to make it worse? I'm skeptical, because they might actually accelerate shipping bug fixes that (pre-LLMs) would have required more time…

I don't think LLMs are the root cause or even a dramatic inflection point. They just tilt an already-skewed system a little further toward motion over judgment

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#44

Post by sh3rl0ck »

gib444 wrote: post #33
satisfice wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is exactly the motivation. The problem with being a billionaire is you still have to associate with poor people. But imagine a world where your wealth completely insulates you from the resentful poor.

How does a billionaire have to associate with poor people? They can live in a complete bubble: house in the hills, driven by a chauffeur, private jets, private islands for holidays etc...?

The poor maids and servants, the poor chauffeur, the poor chef, etc.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#45

Post by chung8123 »

kubb wrote: post #19
beardyw wrote: post #10

I think this is far too nuanced. I am terrified by what the civilization we have known will become. People living in less advanced economies will do OK, but the rest of us not so much. We stand on the brink of a world where some wealthy people will get more wealthy, but very many will struggle without work or prospects. A society where a large percent have no income is unsustainable in the short term, and ultimately…

I wonder, will the rich start hiring elaborate casts of servants including butlers, footmen, lady's maids, and so on, since they'll be the only ones with the income?

Who do you think is building the machines for the rich? All of these tech companies are nothing without the employees that build the tech.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#46

Post by tosapple »

lm2s wrote: post #14
beardyw wrote: post #10

I think this is far too nuanced. I am terrified by what the civilization we have known will become. People living in less advanced economies will do OK, but the rest of us not so much. We stand on the brink of a world where some wealthy people will get more wealthy, but very many will struggle without work or prospects. A society where a large percent have no income is unsustainable in the short term, and ultimately…

Yes, that’s why they are on the race to building the very advanced robots. To prevent the violence towards them.

[dead]

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#47

Post by chung8123 »

AI slop is similar to the cheap tools at harbor freight. Before we used to have to buy really expensive tools that were designed to last forever and perform a ton of jobs. Now we can just go to harbor freight and get a tool that is good enough for most people.

80% of good maybe reframed as 100% ok for 80% of the people. It is when you are in the minority that cares about or needs that last 20% where it is a problem because the 80% were subsidizing your needs by buying more than the need.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#48

Post by frankie_t »

If slop doesn't get better, it would mean that at least I get to keep my job. In the areas where the remaining 10% don't matter, maybe I won't. I'm struggling to come up with an example of such software outside of one-off scripts and some home automation though.

The job is going to be much less fun, yes, but I won't have to learn from scratch and compete with young people in a different area (and which I will enjoy less, most likely). So, if anything slop gives me hope.

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#49

Post by smokel »

jjgreen wrote: post #17
beardyw wrote: post #10

I think this is far too nuanced. I am terrified by what the civilization we have known will become. People living in less advanced economies will do OK, but the rest of us not so much. We stand on the brink of a world where some wealthy people will get more wealthy, but very many will struggle without work or prospects. A society where a large percent have no income is unsustainable in the short term, and ultimately…

Welcome to capitalism!

Besides being a bit of a shallow comment, what exactly do you imply here? That capitalism logically implies that the rich become richer? I don't think this is necessarily the case, it just needs a stronger government than what the US currently has in place. (e.g. progressive taxation and strong antitrust policy seem to work fairly well in Europe).

Re: Slop Terrifies Me

#50

Post by mystraline »

hereme888 wrote: post #13

"terrified".... overused word. As a man I literally can't relate. I get terrified when I see a shark next to me in the ocean. I get impatient when code is hard to debug.

Its existential dread, of being useless and of not being able to thrive.

Its being compared to that of a slop machine, and billionaires claiming that its better than you are in all ways.

Its having integrity in your work, but the LLM slop-machines can lie and go "You're actually right (tells more lies)".

It all comes down to that LLMs serve to 'fix' the trillion dollar problem: peoples wages. Especially those engineers, developers, medical, and more.

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