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How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

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Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#371

Post by huem0n »

shawnz wrote: post #253

I confess I have instructions in my CLAUDE.md to avoid such cliches. But I think it's important to consider that we don't really know what subtext an LLM is associating with a given idiom/analogy/etc. It could be much different than the subtext a human would associate with that choice of words, conveying additional details which are only meaningful to the LLM itself. So impeding its ability to talk in the manner it p…

You're absolutely right to flag this. A approach using Claude.md as a ledger of less-than-ideal vocabulary reveals that the process is load-bearing and sharpens my previous conclusions. A belt-and-suspependers approach using a hook as a sidecar would honestly be a more production-ready approach. I'll get started on a quick smoke-test and let you know when it's landed.

...

Want me to take a first pass looking at other surfaces this vocabulary change could effect?

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#372

Post by jambalaya8 »

cafebeen wrote: post #359
rpdillon wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't use Claude for a long time, but my coworkers did, so I got infected through a side channel: I ended up reading their vibed docs, noticed "load-bearing", kind of liked it, and started using it in conversation, until I got feedback that I was "talking like Claude", so now I avoid the phrase entirely. The intersection of language and social norms is interesting.

Yes, I had a related experience of reading a book and observing what I thought were claude-isms, only to realize it was written in 2019. Some of the common tells are actually good writing practices, but I guess they are best in smaller doses.

Actually, AI was learning these 'AI-isms' even back in 2017/2018 (probably even earlier). I think a lot of people who just jumped on the imaginary AI bandwagon more recently don't realise the mannerisms AIs are adopting are not really new. At some point the bleed between 'you' or 'you' and AI will just become so transparent it will be obliterated, more likely than not.

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#373

Post by jghn »

rpdillon wrote: post #353
doctoboggan wrote: post #309

I do not mind when I am coding with Claude and it uses all the typical claudisms. I am much more bothered when I am reading a blog post, email, or other form of prose and I see those same claudisms. I guess they are not annoying since I know I am talking to an LLM and expect the typical responses. When I am reading prose online that I previously would have expected a human to write, it can be quite jarring to realize…

I didn't use Claude for a long time, but my coworkers did, so I got infected through a side channel: I ended up reading their vibed docs, noticed "load-bearing", kind of liked it, and started using it in conversation, until I got feedback that I was "talking like Claude", so now I avoid the phrase entirely. The intersection of language and social norms is interesting.

unfortunately load bearing is one of those things that became a claudism but has been part of my daily lexicon for decades. There are a lot of things I say regularly as part of my own vocal quirkiness that now I have to self censor.

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#376

Post by PcChip »

jghn wrote: post #373
rpdillon wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't use Claude for a long time, but my coworkers did, so I got infected through a side channel: I ended up reading their vibed docs, noticed "load-bearing", kind of liked it, and started using it in conversation, until I got feedback that I was "talking like Claude", so now I avoid the phrase entirely. The intersection of language and social norms is interesting.

unfortunately load bearing is one of those things that became a claudism but has been part of my daily lexicon for decades. There are a lot of things I say regularly as part of my own vocal quirkiness that now I have to self censor.

I've used it since that simpsons episode

"it's a load bearing poster..."

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#377

Post by btbuildem »

I've put a few lines in my CLAUDE.md to have it not do that, and avoid the top tedious rhetorical devices (super helpful when I have it write documentation). Still fighting with its natural tendency to insanely overcomplicate everything, that one seems really integral somehow.

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#378

Post by flir »

abirch wrote: post #350
doctoboggan wrote: post #309

I do not mind when I am coding with Claude and it uses all the typical claudisms. I am much more bothered when I am reading a blog post, email, or other form of prose and I see those same claudisms. I guess they are not annoying since I know I am talking to an LLM and expect the typical responses. When I am reading prose online that I previously would have expected a human to write, it can be quite jarring to realize…

I'd love it if companies had to disclose the percent of Private Equity ownership and online work disclosed the percent of AI creation.

If you rework a paragraph in a tight loop - you change a few words, the chatbot changes a few words, going round four or five times until you've got something you're happy with, I don't see how it's meaningful to assign a percentage.

I guess you could write an editor that does it? Tracks the origin of every word in the document? But what if you cut'n'paste a word? Or worse, see it and retype it manually?

I think the best you can hope for here is "this text was written with AI assistance".

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#379

Post by nobleach »

noduerme wrote: post #274
alex_suzuki wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve heard (and used) the term “API surface” a lot…

Attack surface is another one I use.

Yes, I've always heard it used in this context. I really believe the other use is because someone misheard "service", and it stuck.

Re: How to stop Claude from saying load-bearing

#380

Post by huem0n »

yetanotherjosh wrote: post #109

The real problem is not terms like "load-bearing," which communicate clearly enough. It's the constant invention of cryptic shorthand terms and phrases that have no referent, and end up acting like a puzzle to be decoded. This is often paired with hyphenation, but not always: "The current behavior paper" -> The behavior in the running system that was previously described as papered over. "Marker transport over-claim"…

You're absolutely right to flag this. We could enhance the authors approach by adding a belt-and-suspenders system using Claude.md as ledger and robust sidecar process to create a load-bearing idempotent production-ready system. The comments here provide a smoking gun and sharpens my previous conclusions. I'll get started on a quick smoke-test and let you know when it's landed.

Want me to take a first pass looking at other surfaces this vocabulary change could effect? Or would you like me to find other methods of reducing my vernacular to more terms that are more concise rather than verbose.

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