I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots • Hacker News Board

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#51

Post by sph » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 4:35 AM UTC

abstractspoon wrote: post #48

I'm a 60M, recently retired and I wholly agree with this piece. I was classically educated and trained as a structural engineer before turning to software. My experience throughout my career was to observe at every turn the total absence of an engineering ethos which rests on a deep understanding of theory, materials, process and construction. Vibing software will destroy what little rigor there ever was in software…

It’s the first comment I read in years that doesn’t go “I’m 60 and I’m back to programming again, and having a lot of fun” which make my eyes roll out of their orbits.

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#52

Post by sph » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 4:35 AM UTC

aogaili wrote: post #32

Do those people feel important by objecting on those tools? Like they are above others?

Unironically, yes. It takes courage to take a stance and go against the grain at the cost of social ostracism.

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#53

Post by aogaili » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 5:43 AM UTC

sph wrote: post #52

aogaili wrote: post #32

Do those people feel important by objecting on those tools? Like they are above others?

Unironically, yes. It takes courage to take a stance and go against the grain at the cost of social ostracism.

What courage?

Hating AI is the norm right now..all those college students, almost everyone in my circle hates AI..the real courage is to speak the truth and try to be objective..

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#54

Post by thefz » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 6:39 AM UTC

augment_me wrote: post #12

You won't be able to choose at some point, and you probably already read plenty of AI generated stuff, it's a survivorship bias. I have a SKILL that emulates how my supervisor prefers his answers and papers, he used to get triggered by generated stuff, but now it just writes in a style he likes which I got from a bunch of his papers and everything goes smoother. If you are bottlenecking someone they will just do the…

> have a SKILL that emulates how my supervisor prefers his answers and papers, he used to get triggered by generated stuff, but now it just writes in a style he likes

So your direct superior asked you not to do something and you still worked your way around his preference while feeling cool about of it? Just to save the time of typing?

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#55

Post by MrVandemar » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 7:38 AM UTC

"Flagged"?

How is this post breaking any guidelines? How does a reasoned essay about LLM use not belong on HN?

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Re: I Don't Want to Interact with Stochastic Parrots

#56

Post by MrVandemar » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 7:54 AM UTC

FranklinMaillot wrote: post #23

The stance is defensible but the article reads like it was written in 2023. Still using the term 'stochastic parrot', in 2026, when century-old mathematical problems are being proven by LLMs almost on a weekly basis doesn't make sense.

The solving of the mathematics problems is largely a marketing stunt. It's a great headline though.

It was also deeply uneconomic, and didn't change the world, or materially advance our understanding. Mostly it's demoralised the mathematicians already working to solve those problems. They're not going to say 'That's great, I can now devote my energies to another problem', they're more likely to look at 10 years of poorly paid intellectually rigorous work and go home and kick the dog. For a headline.