Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans • Hacker News Board

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#291

Post by unsignedint » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:37 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #84

"AI-edited comments" is a very interesting one. Where is the line between a spelling/grammar/tone checker like Grammarly, that at minimum use N-Grams behind the scenes, and something that is "AI" edited? What I am asking is, is "AI" in this context fully featured LLMs, or anything that improves communication via an automated system. I think many people have used these "advanced" spellcheckers for years before Chatgpt…

I think the only practical litmus test here is whether you can stand by the text as your own words. It’s not like we have someone looking over commenters’ shoulders as they type.

Ultimately, this comes down to people making a good-faith judgment about how much AI was involved, whether it was just minor grammatical fixes or something more substantial. The reality is that there isn’t really a shared consensus on exactly where that line should be drawn.

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#292

Post by notorandit » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

notorandit wrote: post #269

Why? I consider myself almost human...

Jokes aside, how can we discern between AI-generated and NI-generated textual contents?

And even if we could, for how long?

Reality is that AI is changing everything. Whether for the good or for the bad it's something to check.

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#293

Post by qaid » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

Shout out to ClackerNews[0], which I discovered last night and find it both very educational and amusing

I hope to see more bots on there (and not here)

[0] https://clackernews.com/

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#294

Post by ferguess_k » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

I think that's the purpose of that "flag" button. And that's good enough.

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#295

Post by oramit » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

If you didn't bother to write it, why should I bother to read it?

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#296

Post by antonvs » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

cityofdelusion wrote: post #142

nkzd wrote: post #114

What if English is my second language? Undoubtedly being well spoken is associated with higher class. Your arguments will come of as stronger to the reader.

This effect is very rapidly vanishing. Well written English is starting to be seen as snobbish and AI-slop especially with younger generations growing up with AI. The human touch of someone’s real voice myself, rather than a false veneer will carry more weight very soon.

If knowing how to speak and write my native language well makes me a “snob”, so be it. But I don’t think I’m the problem in that case.

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#297

Post by recursive » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

mattas wrote: post #120

"HN is for conversation between humans." Are there any places in life where conversation is _not_ intended to be between humans?

In a school of fish. In a mycelium network.

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#298

Post by haunter » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

Doesn’t mean anything when even one of the first rule is not enforced at all

> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#299

Post by morkalork » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

safog wrote: post #80

iammjm wrote: post #15

I believe the issue of proving who is and who isn't really human on the Internet will be a really important issue in the coming years, especially without sacrificing people's right to privacy and anonymity in the process.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think a privacy friendly alternative is going to exist. It's going to go the way of show me your drivers license to use my site.

Problem is, if a token is anonymous, then it follows that it can be bought and sold. Which breaks the original use case of the token, right?

Re: Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans

#300

Post by nobrains » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC

jmuguy wrote: post #244

bondarchuk wrote: post #167

All the weak excuses posted here are just making me lean more towards a hardline policy. No I don't want to read a human-generated summary of your llm brainstorming session. No I don't want to read human-written text with wording changes suggested by an llm. No I don't want to read an excerpt from llm output even if you correctly attribute it. I acknowledge this is partly just my personal bias, in some cases really n…

Beyond folks for whom English is a second language, I agree with you. I don't understand why people are immediately trying to find some loophole in this with spelling, grammar, etc checks. We just want to communicate with you, and if you sound like an idiot without the help of an LLM then maybe work on that rather than pretending to be Hemingway.

Also, there is nothing wrong with looking like an idiot. Thats only in your mind. As long as you have put thought into your reply, even if it not structured correctly, or verbose, or does not have perfect English, humans can still decipher it and understand it.