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It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

blog.pabloecortez.com

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Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#391

Post by caconym_ »

gr4vityWall wrote: post #297
caconym_ wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would be more human to handwrite your blog post instead. I don’t see how this is a good argument. The use of tools to help with writing and communication should make it easier to convey your thoughts, and that itself is valuable. Whether I hand write a blog post or type it into a computer, I'm the one producing the string of characters I intend for you to read. If I use AI to write it, I am not. This is a far, f…

>I'm the one producing the string of characters I intend for you to read. If I use AI to write it, I am not. This is a far, far, far more important distinction than whatever differences we might imagine That apparently is not the case for a lot of people.

s/important/significant/, then, if that helps make the point clearer.

I cannot tell you that it objectively matters whether or not an article was written by a human or an LLM, but it should be clear to anybody that it is at least a significant difference in kind vs. the analogy case of handwriting vs. typing. I think somebody who won't acknowledge that is either being intellectually dishonest, or has already had their higher cognitive functions rotted away by excessive reliance on LLMs to do their thinking for them. The difference in kind is that of using power tools instead of hand tools to build a chair, vs. going out to a store and buying one.

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#392

Post by pessimizer »

pertymcpert wrote: post #273
jschveibinz wrote: post #241

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned here yet, and I don't want to be pedantic, but for centuries famous artists, musicians, writers, etc. have used assistants to do their work for them. The list includes (but in no way is this complete): DaVinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, Warhol, Koons, O'Keefe, Hepworth, Hockney, Stephen King, Clancy, Dumas, Patterson, Elvis, Elton John, etc. etc. Further, most s…

No that’s complete rubbish, it’s a bad analogy.

Counterpoint: It's a fine thought, and an excellent analogy.

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#393

Post by jmcodes »

D13Fd wrote: post #381
godelski wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But once that’s done, why not? Do you have the same understanding of the code? Be honest here. I don't think you do. Just like none of us have the same understanding of the code somebody else wrote. It's just a fact that you understand the code you wrote better than code you didn't. I'm not saying you don't understand the code, that's different. But there's a deeper understanding to code you wrote, right? You might…

If you wrote the code, then you’ll understand it and know why it is written the way you wrote it. If the AI writes the code, you can still understand the code, but you will never know why the code is written that way. The AI itself doesn’t know, beyond the fact that that’s how it is in the training data (and that’s true even if it could generate a plausible answer for why, if you asked it).

I don't agree entirely with this. I know why the LLM wrote the code that way. Because I told it to and _I_ know why I want the code that way.

If people are letting the LLM decide how the code will be written then I think they're using them wrong and yes 100% they won't understand the code as well as if they had written it by hand.

LLMs are just good pattern matchers and can spit out text faster than humans, so that's what I use them for mostly.

Anything that requires actual brainpower and thinking is still my domain. I just type a lot less than I used to.

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#394

Post by DontForgetMe »

jancsika wrote: post #175
latexr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It would be more human to handwrite your blog post instead. “Blog” stands for “web log”. If it’s on the web, it’s digital, there was never a period when blogs were hand written. > The use of tools to help with writing and communication should make it easier to convey your thoughts If you’re using an LLM to spit out text for you, they’re not your thoughts, you’re not the one writing, and you’re not doing a good job…

> If you’re using an LLM to spit out text for you, they’re not your thoughts, you’re not the one writing, and you’re not doing a good job at communicating. Might as well just give people your prompt. It's like listening to Bach's Prelude in C from WTCI where he just came up with a humdrum chord progression and uses the exact same melodic pattern for each chord, for the entire piece . Thanks, but I can write a trivial…

"My LLM generated code is structurally the same as Bach' Preludes and therefore anyone who criticises my work but not Bach's is a hypocrite' is a wild take.

And unless I'm misunderstanding, it's literally the exact point you made, with no exaggeration or added comparisons.

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#396

Post by dingnuts »

oceanplexian wrote: post #350
ManuelKiessling wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why have the LLMs „learned“ to write PRs (and other stuff) this way? This style was definitely not mainstream on Github (or Reddit) pre-LLMs, was it? It’s strange how AI style is so easy to spot. If LLMs just follow the style that they encountered most frequently during training, wouldn’t that mean that their style would be especially hard to spot?

LLMs write things in a certain style because that's how the base models are fine tuned before being given to the public. It's not because they can't write PRs indistinguishable from humans, or can't write code without Emojis. It's because they don't want to freak out the general public so they have essentially poisoned the models to stave off regulation a little bit longer.

this is WILD speculation without a citation. it would be a fascinating comment if you had one! but without? sounds like bullshit to me...

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#397

Post by contagiousflow »

strbean wrote: post #309
soiltype wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah... you're supposed to ask the 5%. If you have a habit of asking random lay persons for technical advice, I can see why an idiot chatbot would seem like an upgrade.

Surely if you have access to a technical expert with the time to answer your question, you aren't asking an AI instead.

Books exist

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#398

Post by YurgenJurgensen »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #279
YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2+2 doesn’t suddenly become 5 just because you’re bored of 4.

If you assume that a LLM's expansion of someone's thoughts is less their thoughts than someone copy and pasting a tired meme, that exposes a pretty fundamental world view divide. I'm ok with you just hating AI stuff because it's AI, but have the guts to own your prejudice and state it openly -- you're always going to hate AI no matter how good it gets, just be clear about that. I can't stand people who try to make up…

I don’t hate AI, I hate liars. It’s just that so far, the former has proven itself to be of little use to anyone but the latter.

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#399

Post by _smfg »

pasteldream wrote: post #376

> people are far kinder than you may think Not everyone has this same experience of the world. People are harsh, and how much grace they give you has more to do with who you are than what you say. That aside, the worst problem with LLM-generated text isn’t that it’s less human, it’s that (by default) it’s full of filler, including excessive repetition and contrived analogies.

> Not everyone has this same experience of the world. People are harsh, and how much grace they give you has more to do with who you are than what you say.

You okay friend?

Re: It's insulting to read AI-generated blog posts

#400

Post by vesterthacker »

When you criticize, it helps to understand the other’s perspective.

I suppose I am writing to you because I can no longer speak to anyone. As people turn to technology for their every word, the space between them widens, and I am no exception. Everyone speaks, yet no one listens. The noise fills the room, and still it feels empty.

Parents grow indifferent, and their children learn it before they can name it. A sickness spreads, quiet and unseen, softening every heart it touches. I once believed I was different. I told myself I still remembered love, that I still felt warmth somewhere inside. But perhaps I only remember the idea of it. Perhaps feeling itself has gone.

I used to judge the new writers for chasing meaning in words. I thought they wrote out of vanity. Now I see they are only trying to feel something, anything at all. I watch them, and sometimes I envy them, though I pretend not to. They are lost, yes, but they still search. I no longer do.

The world is cold, and I have grown used to it. I write to remember, but the words answer nothing. They fall silent, as if ashamed. Maybe you understand. Maybe it is the same with you.

Maybe writing coldly is simply compassion, a way of not letting others feel your pain.

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