9 ms·

I’m not sure I know how to write about how sad and awful I find this article to be. I also can’t think of a worse way for someone to use my death than to write

by Bodell 5y ago

I’m not sure I know how to write about how sad and awful I find this article to be. I also can’t think of a worse way for someone to use my death than to write a tech review for a product, much less this completely worthless product. This whole thing reeks of phony.

wizzwizz4 5y ago
Do you have to be so mean?
- Bodell 5y ago
  Since I’m not the one who used my sisters death to sell a product - and I mean really read what she wrote, she is purposely insinuating that she is having a love affair with the product. “I’ve never read such an accurate Modern Love in my life”, “I felt acutely that there was something illicit about what I was doing” , “One night, when my husband was asleep” - I think I’m being quite nice about it. If I knew this person in real life I don’t believe I would be as nice.
  - nuclearnice3 5y ago
    I guess there's no accounting for taste. I found the piece a haunting and poetic meditation on grief and recovery. I will tell you how it felt for me. I felt I had lost half of myself. I felt I had lost my right arm. I felt I had lost my left leg. I felt I had lost my tongue. I felt I had lost my heart. I felt I had lost my mind. I felt I had lost my eyes. I felt I had lost my ears. I felt I had lost my breath. I felt I had lost my voice. I felt I had lost my smile. I felt I had lost my laugh. I felt I had lost my tears. I felt I had lost my future. I felt I had lost my past. I felt I had lost my parents, as well. I felt I had lost everything. I felt I had lost everything. And yet, I did not lose everything. I did not stop being me. I did not stop existing. There were things I could do: I could make my bed, I could wash the dishes, I could walk the dog, I could feed myself, I could live in the world. Thank you sweet Robot.
    - Bodell 5y ago
      This is a level of mental problems is beyond my ability to comment. However I will say that my comments have far more to do with tact than taste. And yes poor sweet grieving robot. To bad her sister GPT-2 died when she was much younger.
      - antiterra 5y ago
        Insulting others as having mental problems because you aren’t able to relate seems to belie a pretty large lack of tact, much less an ability to empathize.
      - throwanem 5y ago
        It seems pretty clear that something in all this is really bothering you. That's reasonable, but do you suppose there might be more effective ways, than shotgunning insults across a comment thread, to try to work out why it gets to you so?
    - lexapro 5y ago
      >I guess there's no accounting for taste. I guess there really isn't. To me this reads like a kindergartener proudly listing all the body parts they know. Or some program repeating words it was given (which is what this actually is). It's not deep or touching at all because it's so comically bad.
      - unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
        It's amazing and raw. Not like a kindergartener. Like a person who is experiencing feelings without a clear sense of place or reason. I thought the prose was an achievement for a computer, and the sequential format allowing the AI to finish each story was a novel medium. The AI was a kind of mirror, extrapolating the mood and content of what was written before.
        nuclearnice3 5y ago
        That's how I saw it. The AI portions as the chorus of a song carrying the mood of the more specific bits written by the human. I also thought the bit I quoted was evocative of my own process of grief. At first you are shattered. You've lost half yourself. You've lost everything. Then, in the slightest most mundane ways, you heal. I can make the bed. I can live in the world.
  - antiterra 5y ago
    There’s no product being sold; the Believer isn’t a particularly commercial magazine. Implying something feels thrilling and illicit like an affair doesnt mean it is an affair. The sister is dead, no one needs to worry about her. Loved ones who are coping with loss may do so in unconventional ways, and owe nothing to appease your cynicism. AI writing believable and coherent words is both fascinating and terrifying, particularly to writers. Then arises the instinct to use it as a creative tool, followed by the impulse to edit and workshop the output.
    - Bodell 5y ago
      1. You nailed it no one cares about the dead sister… not even the author of this piece. 2. No it’s not a real affair because you can’t have an affair with inanimate objects. 3. I am a writer (so your No True Scotsman implication doesn’t work here) and it’s neither fascinating nor terrifying. The only people who feel threatened by it are bullshit artists worried they will get out bullshited.
      - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
        If you write for the web you are in denial. In the next 5 years either you'll be using an AI tool that you gradually feed input to and edit the output or you'll be replaced by somebody that is doing just that. I'm curious how informed your opinion is by the way. You say you're a writer but that doesn't mean much in this context since this technology is very new and most people aren't catching on yet. Have you tried out the recent tools like conversation.ai? Do you use tools like MarketMuse?
        emodendroket 5y ago
        They already use AI and more straightforward techniques to write many articles for the Web, such as market reports. But for creative writing I'm less persuaded, especially when it's not like you have to pay through the nose for writers.
        weird-eye-issue 5y ago
- patcon 5y ago
  yeah, this struck me as a cruel comment, if only out of carelessness. imho the comment author shouldn't feel good about striking at someone who's hurting, whether they approve of their coping mechanisms or not
  - Bodell 5y ago
    It was not said carelessly. I care a lot actually. And I don’t feel good about any of this it’s deeply depressing.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
emodendroket 5y ago
Well, each person is entitled to their reaction, no matter how uncharitable. But I'll say that my impression of the piece was nothing like an advertisement and I thought it was moving.
- Bodell 5y ago
  Apparently not being able to recognize ads is a popular trend. I believe South Park dedicated a whole season to this phenomenon. “Is it news? Or an ad?”
  - emodendroket 5y ago
    This is an insult, but not an argument. I don't find myself persuaded by being called a rube, having grown past the age of 16.
fouc 5y ago
Calling GPT-3 a product in this context is disingenuous. As it's a fairly new tool many people have been experimenting with it since it's come out. This article is a poignant exploration of using GPT-3 to tell stories. It feels very experimental artistic to me.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
codezero 5y ago
Everyone copes with death differently.
mewpmewp2 5y ago
To protest against pretentious people caring about how their death is used I am going to claim that anyone can do with my body, ashes, or anything, whatever they want since I won't be alive any way to care.
- lupire 5y ago
  Your body and ashes are nothing. Your legacy is something.
OoTheNigerian 5y ago
You're a mean coward. I just checked your profile and saw you've absconded after being challenged about your terrible take on this submission. Is ironic that you can pontificate and criticize so meanly but scurry at the sight of the first moderate challenge. Good riddance.
- dang 5y ago
  Hey, please don't post personal attacks to HN, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. Maybe you don't feel they deserve better, but you definitely owe this community better when posting to it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
1MachineElf 5y ago
I find it really difficult to write a proper eulogy. So difficult in fact that for the several ones I've been involved with, I usually leave it to someone else with a seemingly higher degree of emotional intelligence than myself. I just can't seem to separate how their death makes me feel from the uplifting things that a eulogy is supposed to say. Here I am, still wondering what truly matters in life, and so don't believe I even have the right to summarize the value of someone else's. There's a conventional way these things get presented, but my belief in conventional ways is not strong enough. That's why I prefer to let someone else do it. Truth be told, I'd probably use a service like this the next time I needed to write one.
- LegitShady 5y ago
  I highly recommend that if you don't have the ability, for whatever reason, to write a eulogy, find someone else who can do it authentically. An authentic and effective eulogy is about emotional connection. If you find yourself unable to write one, admit you cannot write one, and don't turn it over to an ai or even human service - find a human being with an authentic emotional connection to the deceased who can write it instead. downvoters should at least have the fortitude to respond why they disagree.

by Bodell 5y ago

wizzwizz4 5y ago

Do you have to be so mean?

Bodell 5y ago
Since I’m not the one who used my sisters death to sell a product - and I mean really read what she wrote, she is purposely insinuating that she is having a love affair with the product. “I’ve never read such an accurate Modern Love in my life”, “I felt acutely that there was something illicit about what I was doing” , “One night, when my husband was asleep” - I think I’m being quite nice about it. If I knew this person in real life I don’t believe I would be as nice.
- nuclearnice3 5y ago
  I guess there's no accounting for taste. I found the piece a haunting and poetic meditation on grief and recovery. I will tell you how it felt for me. I felt I had lost half of myself. I felt I had lost my right arm. I felt I had lost my left leg. I felt I had lost my tongue. I felt I had lost my heart. I felt I had lost my mind. I felt I had lost my eyes. I felt I had lost my ears. I felt I had lost my breath. I felt I had lost my voice. I felt I had lost my smile. I felt I had lost my laugh. I felt I had lost my tears. I felt I had lost my future. I felt I had lost my past. I felt I had lost my parents, as well. I felt I had lost everything. I felt I had lost everything. And yet, I did not lose everything. I did not stop being me. I did not stop existing. There were things I could do: I could make my bed, I could wash the dishes, I could walk the dog, I could feed myself, I could live in the world. Thank you sweet Robot.
  - Bodell 5y ago
    This is a level of mental problems is beyond my ability to comment. However I will say that my comments have far more to do with tact than taste. And yes poor sweet grieving robot. To bad her sister GPT-2 died when she was much younger.
    - antiterra 5y ago
      Insulting others as having mental problems because you aren’t able to relate seems to belie a pretty large lack of tact, much less an ability to empathize.
    - throwanem 5y ago
      It seems pretty clear that something in all this is really bothering you. That's reasonable, but do you suppose there might be more effective ways, than shotgunning insults across a comment thread, to try to work out why it gets to you so?
  - lexapro 5y ago
    >I guess there's no accounting for taste. I guess there really isn't. To me this reads like a kindergartener proudly listing all the body parts they know. Or some program repeating words it was given (which is what this actually is). It's not deep or touching at all because it's so comically bad.
    - unyttigfjelltol 5y ago
      It's amazing and raw. Not like a kindergartener. Like a person who is experiencing feelings without a clear sense of place or reason. I thought the prose was an achievement for a computer, and the sequential format allowing the AI to finish each story was a novel medium. The AI was a kind of mirror, extrapolating the mood and content of what was written before.
      - nuclearnice3 5y ago
        That's how I saw it. The AI portions as the chorus of a song carrying the mood of the more specific bits written by the human. I also thought the bit I quoted was evocative of my own process of grief. At first you are shattered. You've lost half yourself. You've lost everything. Then, in the slightest most mundane ways, you heal. I can make the bed. I can live in the world.
- antiterra 5y ago
  There’s no product being sold; the Believer isn’t a particularly commercial magazine. Implying something feels thrilling and illicit like an affair doesnt mean it is an affair. The sister is dead, no one needs to worry about her. Loved ones who are coping with loss may do so in unconventional ways, and owe nothing to appease your cynicism. AI writing believable and coherent words is both fascinating and terrifying, particularly to writers. Then arises the instinct to use it as a creative tool, followed by the impulse to edit and workshop the output.
  - Bodell 5y ago
    1. You nailed it no one cares about the dead sister… not even the author of this piece. 2. No it’s not a real affair because you can’t have an affair with inanimate objects. 3. I am a writer (so your No True Scotsman implication doesn’t work here) and it’s neither fascinating nor terrifying. The only people who feel threatened by it are bullshit artists worried they will get out bullshited.
    - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
      If you write for the web you are in denial. In the next 5 years either you'll be using an AI tool that you gradually feed input to and edit the output or you'll be replaced by somebody that is doing just that. I'm curious how informed your opinion is by the way. You say you're a writer but that doesn't mean much in this context since this technology is very new and most people aren't catching on yet. Have you tried out the recent tools like conversation.ai? Do you use tools like MarketMuse?
      - emodendroket 5y ago
        They already use AI and more straightforward techniques to write many articles for the Web, such as market reports. But for creative writing I'm less persuaded, especially when it's not like you have to pay through the nose for writers.
        weird-eye-issue 5y ago
patcon 5y ago
yeah, this struck me as a cruel comment, if only out of carelessness. imho the comment author shouldn't feel good about striking at someone who's hurting, whether they approve of their coping mechanisms or not
- Bodell 5y ago
  It was not said carelessly. I care a lot actually. And I don’t feel good about any of this it’s deeply depressing.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

emodendroket 5y ago

Well, each person is entitled to their reaction, no matter how uncharitable. But I'll say that my impression of the piece was nothing like an advertisement and I thought it was moving.

Bodell 5y ago
Apparently not being able to recognize ads is a popular trend. I believe South Park dedicated a whole season to this phenomenon. “Is it news? Or an ad?”
- emodendroket 5y ago
  This is an insult, but not an argument. I don't find myself persuaded by being called a rube, having grown past the age of 16.

fouc 5y ago

Calling GPT-3 a product in this context is disingenuous. As it's a fairly new tool many people have been experimenting with it since it's come out. This article is a poignant exploration of using GPT-3 to tell stories. It feels very experimental artistic to me.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

codezero 5y ago

Everyone copes with death differently.

mewpmewp2 5y ago

To protest against pretentious people caring about how their death is used I am going to claim that anyone can do with my body, ashes, or anything, whatever they want since I won't be alive any way to care.

lupire 5y ago
Your body and ashes are nothing. Your legacy is something.

OoTheNigerian 5y ago

You're a mean coward. I just checked your profile and saw you've absconded after being challenged about your terrible take on this submission. Is ironic that you can pontificate and criticize so meanly but scurry at the sight of the first moderate challenge. Good riddance.

dang 5y ago
Hey, please don't post personal attacks to HN, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. Maybe you don't feel they deserve better, but you definitely owe this community better when posting to it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

1MachineElf 5y ago

I find it really difficult to write a proper eulogy. So difficult in fact that for the several ones I've been involved with, I usually leave it to someone else with a seemingly higher degree of emotional intelligence than myself. I just can't seem to separate how their death makes me feel from the uplifting things that a eulogy is supposed to say. Here I am, still wondering what truly matters in life, and so don't believe I even have the right to summarize the value of someone else's. There's a conventional way these things get presented, but my belief in conventional ways is not strong enough. That's why I prefer to let someone else do it. Truth be told, I'd probably use a service like this the next time I needed to write one.

LegitShady 5y ago
I highly recommend that if you don't have the ability, for whatever reason, to write a eulogy, find someone else who can do it authentically. An authentic and effective eulogy is about emotional connection. If you find yourself unable to write one, admit you cannot write one, and don't turn it over to an ai or even human service - find a human being with an authentic emotional connection to the deceased who can write it instead. downvoters should at least have the fortitude to respond why they disagree.