If HN policy disallows AI comments, why is linking to AI generated content ok?

8 pointsby ekelsen4 hours ago5 comments

minimaxir4 hours ago
Content with a heavy smell of being AI generated already gets flagkilled. Vibecoded repos on GitHub don't strictly fall into that bucket since they can still provide functional utility.
Do you have a specific example of something that should not be allowed but did not get flagkilled?
- ekelsen3 hours ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47477284 was definitely somewhere between generated by and edited by AI.
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48411799 originally linked to the pdf version which is clearly AI generated.
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47602500 Also clearly AI edited.
  Separately I've gotten down voted for pointing out something is AI generated, but if it's explicitly policy that it isn't allowed, it seems like that should be written down.
redox993 hours ago
Because having rules on HN comments means users adapt their writing to those rules. Whereas the same on external content means potentially missing out on interesting stuff. We've already seen big announcements being clearly AI generated.
- ekelsen3 hours ago
  HN is big enough that its standards could propagate beyond these walls.
bdroopy3 hours ago
Personally I don't mind AI content if it still reads like a human took some raw materials and sculpted - but a simple post is so low effort AI should not be rewarded here.
- ekelsen3 hours ago
  For the record, I'm not against the use of AI during the writing process. It can be used to make the final product better without eliminating the human authors style. I am against everything I read turning into one monoculture of AI produced prose, even if humans put some thought into what the prose is communicating.
  Even if I thought that the style of AI produced prose was good, I still wouldn't want it to be the only style of writing I ever read unless I open a book written before 2022.
ekelsen4 hours ago
"Don't post generated comments or AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans."
bediger40004 hours ago
I think it should not be allowed, for logical consistency, if not for the sake of civility. If someone thought so little of their audience that they let an "AI" write and/or draw a post, it seems thoughtless to ask a human to waste their precious time reading it.