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Tell HN: People are spamming GitHub issues with ChatGPT

44 points by KenRuf 4y ago

Over the break we got a few comments from someone we hadn't seen before. Like everyone else we've been messing around with ChatGPT so it was immediately obvious to us that these were written with ChatGPT. Anyone else getting these? Here are the comments: https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714

szundi 4y ago
I see that in 5 years we have to prove everythere that we are humans, not just online human capable. Ehh
- worldsavior 4y ago
  Oh fu...
32gbsd 4y ago
Havent gotten any yet but i can see it being useful for all kinds of spam.
- anaganisk 4y ago
  From the name, it seems like an Indian. Let me guess, since I kind of know student tricks around here, some professor/manager/trainer probably gave a pep talk on github and usefulness and probably gave an assignment to contribute or the person wants to impress the professor for marks. Remember the DO free t-shirt situation? Quickest solution without any knowledge, That's right, CHATGPT. Man, being an Indian myself, I'm just always surprised by how low effort our students put in, I mean, no one even thinks to try to understand why. Probably a side-effect of merit based education and peer pressure.
terminal_d 4y ago
Why do people do this? I understand the motivation behind people making endless pages of generated useless content that they then use SEO on, but this is bizzare.
- smilebot 4y ago
  “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome” - Munger GitHub stars/contributions etc are used as a metric for hiring. They might end up with a better billing rate for having code merged into a popular library.
  - terminal_d 4y ago
    Only if they somehow manage to hoodwink everyone by signalling exceptional competence. Otherwise, it mostly comes across as someone that lacks theory of mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind-blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind-blindness
deleted 4y ago
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deleted 4y ago
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metadat 4y ago
Clickable links: https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714 How do you know the issues were generated with ChatGPT? It's not immediately obvious to me, but this is the first time I've crossed paths with svix. Edit: Looks like this was also discussed yesterday~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34150261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34150261
- KenRuf 4y ago
  There are a few potential clues that might indicate that a piece of text was generated by ChatGPT or a similar language model: Lack of context or coherence: Language models like ChatGPT are designed to generate text based on a given prompt or input, but they do not have a deep understanding of the context in which the text is being used. As a result, the text they generate may lack coherence or may not make sense in the context in which it is being used. Repetitive or unnatural language: Language models can sometimes produce repetitive or unnatural language patterns, particularly if they are not provided with sufficient context or training data. Inconsistencies or errors: Language models may produce errors or inconsistencies in the text they generate, especially if they are not trained on a diverse or comprehensive dataset. It is important to note that these clues are not definitive indicators that a piece of text was generated by ChatGPT or any other specific language model. There are many other factors that could contribute to these characteristics in text, and it is not always possible to determine with certainty whether a piece of text was generated by a specific model. FYI this is written by ChatGPT so you get an idea of its writing style. I asked it "what are some clues that might indicate something is written by chatgpt".
  - yccs27 4y ago
    Thank you for the last sentence information. I definitely got that eerie "AI text" vibe, but as ChatGPT puts it, "it is not always possible to determine with certainty whether a piece of text was generated by [ChatGPT]".
  - dandelany 4y ago
908B64B197 4y ago
Wait until it's Hacktoberfest again and you can win a free t-shirt [0]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24658052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24658052
anaganisk 4y ago
Based on the git code, it seems like the person is into blockchaij/web3 development and searching for the username on social profile finder. Seems like I found a person whose profile has a similarity, assuming the person uses the same username everywhere. https://www.linkedin.com/in/swarnabhasinha https://www.linkedin.com/in/swarnabhasinha in case it helps you to contact them and ask them politely not to do it. His linkedin profile and his repository contributions match AstrotechLabs.
robswc 4y ago
I do algo trading and you wouldn't believe the number of people that show up with ChatGPT generated code, asking if it will "work." The answer is always "no." I love ChatGPT but I didn't realize how many people _don't_ realize it's strengths and weaknesses. It's been amazing for generating boilerplate and small functions (you _do_ have to double check these as they can be confidently incorrect) but I still find it fits well into the workflow. But yea... I am really at a loss as to why and where these people come from. They don't seem terribly proficient in programming/computing because they don't seem to even realize the output is BS for the context. Could it be kids/young adults?
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  Everybody has to start somewhere. Motivation for coding isn’t intrinsic from a young age for many. Sounds exciting to me.
  - robswc 4y ago
    Oh yea. I mean, I was on tech forums chatting as a 13 year old and looking back, I _know_ so many people realized my questions were just ridiculous or dumb lol. I'm just wondering if that must be where the this is coming from. As an example, I wouldn't log onto a random geology forum (a topic I don't understand well) and start pasting in ChatGPT responses. Whether that's because I'm an adult or because I understand the limits of ChatGPT (maybe both?) is debatable I guess... but my "napkin theory" is that younger people are behind a lot of the ChatGPT "spam."
    - ShamelessC 4y ago
      Just work at any non-tech corporation doing coding. Lots of people hustling with zero motivation to progress as a principled engineer. I agree about the nature of the interaction being more annoying than I thought.
  - sph 4y ago
    A newbie asking a dumb question is completely different than a person, whatever their skill, copy pasting a generated GPT response and asking "will this work?" In the first case there is thought, curiosity and intelligence, but a marked lack of experience. In the second there is just the ability to type and copy paste, no thinking necessary. I always have time for a new programmer asking me why their fizzbuzz function doesn't work, but if you have asked GPT to write it for you, and ask me why it doesn't work, you can go waste someone else's time. Doing so, without even disclosing it's AI generated is even worse in my book. I must be an outlier, but I do not understand this naive and laissez-faire approach many tech workers seem to have with GPT and the social ramifications it creates.
xor99 4y ago
This is yet another example of the classic human story: arrogance before the fall. Writing code is no longer interesting. What you do with it is.

44 points by KenRuf 4y ago

szundi 4y ago

I see that in 5 years we have to prove everythere that we are humans, not just online human capable. Ehh

worldsavior 4y ago
Oh fu...

32gbsd 4y ago

Havent gotten any yet but i can see it being useful for all kinds of spam.

anaganisk 4y ago
From the name, it seems like an Indian. Let me guess, since I kind of know student tricks around here, some professor/manager/trainer probably gave a pep talk on github and usefulness and probably gave an assignment to contribute or the person wants to impress the professor for marks. Remember the DO free t-shirt situation? Quickest solution without any knowledge, That's right, CHATGPT. Man, being an Indian myself, I'm just always surprised by how low effort our students put in, I mean, no one even thinks to try to understand why. Probably a side-effect of merit based education and peer pressure.

terminal_d 4y ago

Why do people do this? I understand the motivation behind people making endless pages of generated useless content that they then use SEO on, but this is bizzare.

smilebot 4y ago
“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome” - Munger GitHub stars/contributions etc are used as a metric for hiring. They might end up with a better billing rate for having code merged into a popular library.
- terminal_d 4y ago
  Only if they somehow manage to hoodwink everyone by signalling exceptional competence. Otherwise, it mostly comes across as someone that lacks theory of mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind-blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind-blindness

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

metadat 4y ago

Clickable links: https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/453 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714 https://github.com/svix/svix-webhooks/issues/714 How do you know the issues were generated with ChatGPT? It's not immediately obvious to me, but this is the first time I've crossed paths with svix. Edit: Looks like this was also discussed yesterday~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34150261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34150261

KenRuf 4y ago
There are a few potential clues that might indicate that a piece of text was generated by ChatGPT or a similar language model: Lack of context or coherence: Language models like ChatGPT are designed to generate text based on a given prompt or input, but they do not have a deep understanding of the context in which the text is being used. As a result, the text they generate may lack coherence or may not make sense in the context in which it is being used. Repetitive or unnatural language: Language models can sometimes produce repetitive or unnatural language patterns, particularly if they are not provided with sufficient context or training data. Inconsistencies or errors: Language models may produce errors or inconsistencies in the text they generate, especially if they are not trained on a diverse or comprehensive dataset. It is important to note that these clues are not definitive indicators that a piece of text was generated by ChatGPT or any other specific language model. There are many other factors that could contribute to these characteristics in text, and it is not always possible to determine with certainty whether a piece of text was generated by a specific model. FYI this is written by ChatGPT so you get an idea of its writing style. I asked it "what are some clues that might indicate something is written by chatgpt".
- yccs27 4y ago
  Thank you for the last sentence information. I definitely got that eerie "AI text" vibe, but as ChatGPT puts it, "it is not always possible to determine with certainty whether a piece of text was generated by [ChatGPT]".
- dandelany 4y ago

908B64B197 4y ago

Wait until it's Hacktoberfest again and you can win a free t-shirt [0]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24658052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24658052

anaganisk 4y ago

Based on the git code, it seems like the person is into blockchaij/web3 development and searching for the username on social profile finder. Seems like I found a person whose profile has a similarity, assuming the person uses the same username everywhere. https://www.linkedin.com/in/swarnabhasinha https://www.linkedin.com/in/swarnabhasinha in case it helps you to contact them and ask them politely not to do it. His linkedin profile and his repository contributions match AstrotechLabs.

robswc 4y ago

I do algo trading and you wouldn't believe the number of people that show up with ChatGPT generated code, asking if it will "work." The answer is always "no." I love ChatGPT but I didn't realize how many people _don't_ realize it's strengths and weaknesses. It's been amazing for generating boilerplate and small functions (you _do_ have to double check these as they can be confidently incorrect) but I still find it fits well into the workflow. But yea... I am really at a loss as to why and where these people come from. They don't seem terribly proficient in programming/computing because they don't seem to even realize the output is BS for the context. Could it be kids/young adults?

ShamelessC 4y ago
Everybody has to start somewhere. Motivation for coding isn’t intrinsic from a young age for many. Sounds exciting to me.
- robswc 4y ago
  Oh yea. I mean, I was on tech forums chatting as a 13 year old and looking back, I _know_ so many people realized my questions were just ridiculous or dumb lol. I'm just wondering if that must be where the this is coming from. As an example, I wouldn't log onto a random geology forum (a topic I don't understand well) and start pasting in ChatGPT responses. Whether that's because I'm an adult or because I understand the limits of ChatGPT (maybe both?) is debatable I guess... but my "napkin theory" is that younger people are behind a lot of the ChatGPT "spam."
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    Just work at any non-tech corporation doing coding. Lots of people hustling with zero motivation to progress as a principled engineer. I agree about the nature of the interaction being more annoying than I thought.
- sph 4y ago
  A newbie asking a dumb question is completely different than a person, whatever their skill, copy pasting a generated GPT response and asking "will this work?" In the first case there is thought, curiosity and intelligence, but a marked lack of experience. In the second there is just the ability to type and copy paste, no thinking necessary. I always have time for a new programmer asking me why their fizzbuzz function doesn't work, but if you have asked GPT to write it for you, and ask me why it doesn't work, you can go waste someone else's time. Doing so, without even disclosing it's AI generated is even worse in my book. I must be an outlier, but I do not understand this naive and laissez-faire approach many tech workers seem to have with GPT and the social ramifications it creates.

xor99 4y ago

This is yet another example of the classic human story: arrogance before the fall. Writing code is no longer interesting. What you do with it is.