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I don't want to read what you didn't write

1070 points · 460 comments · mooreds

  1. idreyn · · focus · HN ↗
    These last few days, there has been a small stream of blogposts on HN expressing similar things, and I have enjoyed them all.

    My question recently has been how to broach this subject with colleagues who really enjoy producing prose with AI. There is not yet a better cultural shorthand for this sort of thing than "slop" which is a harsh-sounding word and itself sort of a thought-terminating cliché. "I don't want to read what you didn't write" is maybe closer — but it needs a pithier and somewhat more encouraging encapsulation, like "I want to hear it from you".

    Has anyone had good experiences setting up professional boundaries or team norms around AI-written docs?

    1. TheBolivianNavy · · focus · HN ↗
      It's something that my company has been struggling with. Developers are generating mountains of code, documentation, and Jira ticket comments. It's incomprehensible and overwhelming.

      For the team I lead, my guideline is AI generated is fine but it needs to be human-edited and/or summarized. You want me to read what you're offering? Put some effort into it and meet me halfway. I don't want AI generated gibberish with made-up terms. You'd better also understand what you are presenting as your work. It's been fairly well-received though we're still working on it.

      I have some co-workers on other teams who use AI to generate responses to literally everything. Ask a simple question? Get pages of AI generated nonsense in response. They are proving a tougher nut to crack.

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