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Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#161

Post by brudgers »

dang wrote: post #42

We don't allow genai text on HN itself - see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340079 . How to enforce it is a separate question, of course, but the rule exists. We don't have a similar rule yet about article content but my sense is that the community mostly doesn't want to read it—or, to put it more conservatively, discounts it. This is why we see s…

What I do think we'll (finally) add is a "please give a reason why you flagged this post" step

Do you believe adding friction to flagging will reduce the quantity of low quality articles?

Or is the flagging of high quality articles a bigger and more pressing problem?

Or is the problem simply too-many-damn-flags?

Just curious.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#162

Post by minimaxir »

dang wrote: post #151
minimaxir wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then there's clanker (which has fortunately tapered off a bit): https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

This is a nested-enough subthread that I can say whatever I want because no one will ever link to it because if they do no one will care. The class of comments you're talking about—not just ones that say "clanker" literally but the more general category—is particle-wave undecidable right now. If the commenter is right—i.e. if the commenter they are castigating actually did post LLM-generated text—then it's a communit…

That's a fair response.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#163

Post by abnercoimbre »

dang wrote: post #42

We don't allow genai text on HN itself - see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340079 . How to enforce it is a separate question, of course, but the rule exists. We don't have a similar rule yet about article content but my sense is that the community mostly doesn't want to read it—or, to put it more conservatively, discounts it. This is why we see s…

> This has the happy flipside that anyone who would like readers to classify their article as high-status rather than low-status can apply the judo move of simply writing it themselves.

I really really hope more people take up pen and paper! My last blog post [0] came with proof-of-work attached.

[0] https://abner.page/post/are-we-harold-bloom/

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#164

Post by sph »

avaer wrote: post #53
dang wrote: post #42

We don't allow genai text on HN itself - see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340079 . How to enforce it is a separate question, of course, but the rule exists. We don't have a similar rule yet about article content but my sense is that the community mostly doesn't want to read it—or, to put it more conservatively, discounts it. This is why we see s…

I hope HN doesn't get into moderating the politics of articles. I can see a grim future (present?) where "AI generated" turns into a slur, warranted or otherwise, in a world where the difference between human trained to talk like an AI and AI masquerading as human becomes increasingly difficult to discern, and some hidden cabal passes judgement. That is wholly different from taking a stance on HN being a place for hu…

Honest question, why would it be a grim future for people to be allergic to what, in 99% of the cases, is effortless slop?

Personally that is the future I hope to see. Hence my continuous protestations at the lazy excuses for articles that get posted these days, and the lazier excuses given by their authors for avoiding using their brain.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#165

Post by bellowsgulch »

sph wrote: post #159
dang wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn you people for asking good questions that go straight to the fuzzy areas! I don't know for sure yet. But you're right that that would follow from what I said. What I do know is that users should flag articles that they think don't belong on HN. But this should rely on their reading of https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and not just be based on a like/dislike reaction. That is, users should flag art…

I have been discouraging people from flagging ‘articles that they think don't belong on HN’, because you have disabled my ability to do so time and time again. In private conversation with you, you have confirmed that if I flag/vouch stuff you mods don’t agree with, I get the privilege taken away, even if I genuinely believe a post to fall outside of the guidelines. So either I read your mind, or it is best not to fl…

Dan likes some people and you ain't in the group, buddy.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#166

Post by dang »

sph wrote: post #159
dang wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn you people for asking good questions that go straight to the fuzzy areas! I don't know for sure yet. But you're right that that would follow from what I said. What I do know is that users should flag articles that they think don't belong on HN. But this should rely on their reading of https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and not just be based on a like/dislike reaction. That is, users should flag art…

I have been discouraging people from flagging ‘articles that they think don't belong on HN’, because you have disabled my ability to do so time and time again. In private conversation with you, you have confirmed that if I flag/vouch stuff you mods don’t agree with, I get the privilege taken away, even if I genuinely believe a post to fall outside of the guidelines. So either I read your mind, or it is best not to fl…

> In private conversation with you, you have confirmed that if I flag/vouch stuff you mods don’t agree with, I get the privilege taken away, even if I genuinely believe a post to fall outside of the guidelines.

People love to make vague claims like this based on things we supposedly said. How about you quote what exactly what I literally said so readers can make up their own minds?

Sorry if that is testy (well, it is testy), but I can't count the number of times that disgruntled users have posted falsely to HN threads to vent their residual frustrations with the mods.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#167

Post by sph »

pixl97 wrote: post #131
archagon wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good link aggregator should strive to select the <1% of articles that are actually high quality. Who cares what “everyone” is doing?

Isn't that what the vote system is? If the users are selecting low quality then what exactly?

Then we are fucked. A quality platform must strive for more quality than what the average lurker, likely a bot, decides is worth reading. That’s how you get modern Reddit.

Is the goal of this site to remain high-quality, or to rely on random, anonymous users to discern quality? Consider the possibility that the two options might be incompatible.

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#169

Post by rsoto2 »

xdennis wrote: post #80
dawnerd wrote: post #4

Considering YC invests in AI I doubt you’ll get anything of the sort. Too many people here also think you just have to give in and accept (abuser mentality IMO).

> Considering YC invests in AI I doubt you’ll get anything of the sort. Conspiracy minded responses are low value, and yours is especially so considering HN bans AI comments.

Investors want to see their investment grow. What is the conspiracy? HN also hosted a likely war criminal to talk about his experiencing killing children in gaza. You think these people have morals or ideals?

Re: Ask HN: Add flag for AI-generated articles

#170

Post by dang »

bellowsgulch wrote: post #165
sph wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been discouraging people from flagging ‘articles that they think don't belong on HN’, because you have disabled my ability to do so time and time again. In private conversation with you, you have confirmed that if I flag/vouch stuff you mods don’t agree with, I get the privilege taken away, even if I genuinely believe a post to fall outside of the guidelines. So either I read your mind, or it is best not to fl…

Dan likes some people and you ain't in the group, buddy.

I like people who follow the site guidelines and want to use HN as intended. That doesn't mean I dislike people who don't, but that side of the moon is more...nuanced.
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