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> Such a massive new source of text will surely influence how language is spoken Before chatGPT I'd see the words "it's worth noting.." maybe five times in my

> Such a massive new source of text will surely influence how language is spoken Before chatGPT I'd see the words "it's worth noting.." maybe five times in my entire life (39 years old). I now see that stupid phrase dozens of times per day, every single day, everywhere I go. Including HN, which tosses it around even more than Reddit.

mostlysimilar 3y ago
AI models shit out some truly creepy and uncanny language. I know the point is coming that we truly can't spot it, but at least right now it's obvious from a mile away.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
vintermann 3y ago
I'm pretty sure I used that phrase pre-LLMs quite a lot. Bad habit.
- squarefoot 3y ago
  Could you please explain why to a non native English speaker? I used myself and read that phrase by others several times, also in pre-LLM era, but never occurred to me that it could have been wrong.
  - skywhopper 3y ago
    There’s nothing wrong with that phrase, and it’s definitely not “wrong”.
  - diydsp 3y ago
    it's not technically wrong. it's just not commonly used, nor well-used by ChatGpt. Good times to use the phrase are when you are teaching someone... and when it's well, important, to note a detail or fine point. It's not something you'd say at the end of practically every communication...because there aren't always fine points or exceptions worth noting. Also chatgpt has a habit of weakly editorializating almost anything as a way of covering its a*. For example, I asked it how much Jira costs, and after it told me it added: "It's important to note that pricing and plans may change over time, so I reco.." ok, sure pricing and plans may change. we kind of already guessed that. and it's not important to note it. I asked how much Flat costs and it added: "It's important to note that Flat may offer discounts or promotions from time to time, " Again, not important. And if it was important, I would just note it. I would actively utilize that in my decision-making process. "However, it's important to note that the endianess is dependent on the system architecture" Again, completely unnecessary. just say, "Endianess is dependent on system architecture." "It's important to note that the value returned by time() is in UTC." ok, yeah that's kind of important. but just say, "the value is in UTC." Like if I said to you, "It's important to note that you must press submit on a web page to return data to the server," you'd say something like, "yeah is that important though? that's just how it works?!" Like I don't need to say, "It's important to turn the key in a car." It is "important" in the sense that it's also vital or CRITICAL, or utterly essential. It's just how it's done. How it works. It's not particularly important. "Overall, the ovipositor is an important reproductive structure that enables female insects to lay their eggs " is it important? is it more important than other reproductive structures? how much more? why? aren't they all important??!? Generally, "it is important" is a convenient phrase for abdicating responsibility. It removes people or entities from the picture as well as objections. It conjures a world where question-asking isn't present, without exceptions, or context. It also hides that invisible authoritative relationship between two people. So if you want to be vaguely manipulative to people who don't think critically, you can obtain some basic compliance without overtly threatening them this way. The fact that it won't work on most people, but chatgpt batters us with it is just tiring. Furthermore, as my friend pointed out, ChatGPT works by stroking your ego and fanning its own flames. It tries to make you feel clever for using it. Telling you that what it is telling you is important is a low-grade sleazy way of inflating itself in your eyes, and also hinting to you that this information is worthy of your attention; that perhaps you can pat yourself on the back for choosing chatgpt... because it's not just random information from a google search... ChatGpt is giving you important information. don't you know.
  - omnicognate 3y ago
    Some people feel that such phrases add no information and should be stripped in favour of brevity. I disagree. These phrases act similarly to prosody (inflection, tone of voice), adding some often hard-to-define context as to the nature of what is being said. This particular phrase indicates that what comes next is not part of the main thrust of the argument but a side observation in support of it. It prepares the reader or listener to receive it in that spirit rather than have to figure its status out for themselves. Used superfluously or incorrectly it can be pompous and empty, but used well it can genuinely improve comprehensibility, even if a word processor's grammar checker might choose to put a squiggly line under it.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    It's not wrong, really. But it is cliche usually adds nothing of value. As with all such phrases, if using it makes the writing more clear, then it should be used. Otherwise, it should be omitted. When I've encountered it, it usually comes off as a way to just make the writer sound smarter rather than a way to clarify communication.
    - nuancebydefault 3y ago
      'It's worth noting' or 'please note that' actually adds information. Especially if you ask a question and there is an answer that needs extra notes such as caveats or things one should know to understand it better. Following code performs the task: <some code> Please note that * the code can only work when using 64 bit architecture. * the variables a and b are to be provided and can't exceed 100.
      - JohnFen 3y ago
        Yes, the phrase can absolutely be used in a way that adds clarity. The majority of the time, though, it doesn't. It's more like a verbal tic. It's one of the standard phrases that people should double-check when they find themselves using it, to make sure it's really called for.
idontpost 3y ago
[dead]
1024core 3y ago
You missed a great opportunity to rephrase it like this: > It is worth noting that before chatGPT I'd see the words "it's worth noting.." maybe five times in my entire life (39 years old). :-D
fire_lake 3y ago
This would be a great analysis to run over a sample of the internet vs internet archive.

mostlysimilar 3y ago

AI models shit out some truly creepy and uncanny language. I know the point is coming that we truly can't spot it, but at least right now it's obvious from a mile away.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

vintermann 3y ago

I'm pretty sure I used that phrase pre-LLMs quite a lot. Bad habit.

squarefoot 3y ago
Could you please explain why to a non native English speaker? I used myself and read that phrase by others several times, also in pre-LLM era, but never occurred to me that it could have been wrong.
- skywhopper 3y ago
  There’s nothing wrong with that phrase, and it’s definitely not “wrong”.
- diydsp 3y ago
  it's not technically wrong. it's just not commonly used, nor well-used by ChatGpt. Good times to use the phrase are when you are teaching someone... and when it's well, important, to note a detail or fine point. It's not something you'd say at the end of practically every communication...because there aren't always fine points or exceptions worth noting. Also chatgpt has a habit of weakly editorializating almost anything as a way of covering its a*. For example, I asked it how much Jira costs, and after it told me it added: "It's important to note that pricing and plans may change over time, so I reco.." ok, sure pricing and plans may change. we kind of already guessed that. and it's not important to note it. I asked how much Flat costs and it added: "It's important to note that Flat may offer discounts or promotions from time to time, " Again, not important. And if it was important, I would just note it. I would actively utilize that in my decision-making process. "However, it's important to note that the endianess is dependent on the system architecture" Again, completely unnecessary. just say, "Endianess is dependent on system architecture." "It's important to note that the value returned by time() is in UTC." ok, yeah that's kind of important. but just say, "the value is in UTC." Like if I said to you, "It's important to note that you must press submit on a web page to return data to the server," you'd say something like, "yeah is that important though? that's just how it works?!" Like I don't need to say, "It's important to turn the key in a car." It is "important" in the sense that it's also vital or CRITICAL, or utterly essential. It's just how it's done. How it works. It's not particularly important. "Overall, the ovipositor is an important reproductive structure that enables female insects to lay their eggs " is it important? is it more important than other reproductive structures? how much more? why? aren't they all important??!? Generally, "it is important" is a convenient phrase for abdicating responsibility. It removes people or entities from the picture as well as objections. It conjures a world where question-asking isn't present, without exceptions, or context. It also hides that invisible authoritative relationship between two people. So if you want to be vaguely manipulative to people who don't think critically, you can obtain some basic compliance without overtly threatening them this way. The fact that it won't work on most people, but chatgpt batters us with it is just tiring. Furthermore, as my friend pointed out, ChatGPT works by stroking your ego and fanning its own flames. It tries to make you feel clever for using it. Telling you that what it is telling you is important is a low-grade sleazy way of inflating itself in your eyes, and also hinting to you that this information is worthy of your attention; that perhaps you can pat yourself on the back for choosing chatgpt... because it's not just random information from a google search... ChatGpt is giving you important information. don't you know.
- omnicognate 3y ago
  Some people feel that such phrases add no information and should be stripped in favour of brevity. I disagree. These phrases act similarly to prosody (inflection, tone of voice), adding some often hard-to-define context as to the nature of what is being said. This particular phrase indicates that what comes next is not part of the main thrust of the argument but a side observation in support of it. It prepares the reader or listener to receive it in that spirit rather than have to figure its status out for themselves. Used superfluously or incorrectly it can be pompous and empty, but used well it can genuinely improve comprehensibility, even if a word processor's grammar checker might choose to put a squiggly line under it.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  It's not wrong, really. But it is cliche usually adds nothing of value. As with all such phrases, if using it makes the writing more clear, then it should be used. Otherwise, it should be omitted. When I've encountered it, it usually comes off as a way to just make the writer sound smarter rather than a way to clarify communication.
  - nuancebydefault 3y ago
    'It's worth noting' or 'please note that' actually adds information. Especially if you ask a question and there is an answer that needs extra notes such as caveats or things one should know to understand it better. Following code performs the task: <some code> Please note that * the code can only work when using 64 bit architecture. * the variables a and b are to be provided and can't exceed 100.
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      Yes, the phrase can absolutely be used in a way that adds clarity. The majority of the time, though, it doesn't. It's more like a verbal tic. It's one of the standard phrases that people should double-check when they find themselves using it, to make sure it's really called for.

idontpost 3y ago

[dead]

1024core 3y ago

You missed a great opportunity to rephrase it like this: > It is worth noting that before chatGPT I'd see the words "it's worth noting.." maybe five times in my entire life (39 years old). :-D

fire_lake 3y ago

This would be a great analysis to run over a sample of the internet vs internet archive.