4 ms·

Obviously the AI version is bland and terrible, but arguably more importantly it has also completely changed the meaning of the message. The AI version: - apol

Obviously the AI version is bland and terrible, but arguably more importantly it has also completely changed the meaning of the message. The AI version: - apologizes - implies the recipient was "promised" this email as a "response" to something - blames a hectic schedule - invites questions None of this was in or was even implied in the original. This is not a "polished" version, it's just a straight-up different email. I thought that style transfer while maintaining meaning was one of the few things LLMs can be good at, but this example fails even that low bar.

polynomial 2y ago
Correct. This is called the production of subjectivity. (tyrna be funny not patronizing. but the machinery of subjectivity production is ofc very real)
cmrdporcupine 2y ago
The AI has some ... "ideas" ... of its own on what workplace relationships apparently need to be like.
- escapecharacter 2y ago
  A lot of people who want to replace most human interactions with LLMs assume that there is some objective set of cultural values true in all contexts, and that it is good and easy to encode these as axioms into an AI.
  - tclancy 2y ago
    Yes. As an Old now (GenX), I feel like moving all interactions to text and now having AI as a man in the middle is just reinventing ways to get in a situation where a decade down the line you reconnect with someone who used to be a friend and both discover "Hey, that wasn't what I meant at all!" As ever, T.S. Eliot was right: "It is impossible to say just what I mean!"
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    And those objective set of cultural values are, apparently... a sort of parody of 90s corporate culture, a sort of polite version of Michael Scott. Like, no-one ever _actually_ wrote like LLMs tend to write; it reads as a parody of a now slightly obsolete corporate-speak.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- bunderbunder 2y ago
  Have you read the papers on how they optimize these LLMs for demeanor? AI exists in a Matrix where toxic positivity is enforced with electric shocks.
  - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
    It's the California Ideology, now written into a program. When I was at Google this tone was so pervasive that we had "CongratBot" to make fun of this stuff, and Memegen to somewhat counteract it. But Silly Valley is the poster-child for "hey don't be a downer" communications vibes. As the child of a super-critical German father, it always seems insincere to me.
- nicbou 2y ago
  And those ideas seem far more in line with millenial Silicon Valley culture. It's weird when they expect Germans to fake that sort of overly formal, overly cheery tone. People just don't talk like that.
  - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
    Yeah, my father is German, and I'm Canadian, but of a .. grouchy ... variety. This kind of business culture has never really fit with me. But it's how the people with the $$ speak.
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retropragma 2y ago
It's just shitty prompt design
- summermusic 2y ago
  No, it's because the AI makes shit up. No amount of prompting will fix this.
- mronetwo 2y ago
  Well... that's a very 2025 sentence...
yawnxyz 2y ago
this is like when my manager once yelled at me for not writing in corp speak enough
- Freak_NL 2y ago
  “OK Fine. But could you at least yell at me in corp speak?” It's no surprise LLMs are using corp speak and vapid marketing prose as a template. There is so much of it out there. This is from that Autodesk post last week where they admitted their mistake and… Nope it's corp speak: “We are excited to share some important updates regarding Archiving and our Idea Boards and Forums that aim to enhance your experience and ensure valuable content remains accessible. Please read the details below to understand how these changes might impact you.” Barf. But to an LLM this looks like a human communicating in a meaningful way.
  - nicbou 2y ago
    > Look, we need to align on language here. If you’re not speaking in scalable, results-driven terminology, you’re slowing down the team. We don’t “talk about things”—we sync and strategize. We don’t “try something new”—we leverage data-driven insights to drive innovation.

polynomial 2y ago

Correct. This is called the production of subjectivity. (tyrna be funny not patronizing. but the machinery of subjectivity production is ofc very real)

cmrdporcupine 2y ago

The AI has some ... "ideas" ... of its own on what workplace relationships apparently need to be like.

escapecharacter 2y ago
A lot of people who want to replace most human interactions with LLMs assume that there is some objective set of cultural values true in all contexts, and that it is good and easy to encode these as axioms into an AI.
- tclancy 2y ago
  Yes. As an Old now (GenX), I feel like moving all interactions to text and now having AI as a man in the middle is just reinventing ways to get in a situation where a decade down the line you reconnect with someone who used to be a friend and both discover "Hey, that wasn't what I meant at all!" As ever, T.S. Eliot was right: "It is impossible to say just what I mean!"
- rsynnott 2y ago
  And those objective set of cultural values are, apparently... a sort of parody of 90s corporate culture, a sort of polite version of Michael Scott. Like, no-one ever _actually_ wrote like LLMs tend to write; it reads as a parody of a now slightly obsolete corporate-speak.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
bunderbunder 2y ago
Have you read the papers on how they optimize these LLMs for demeanor? AI exists in a Matrix where toxic positivity is enforced with electric shocks.
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  It's the California Ideology, now written into a program. When I was at Google this tone was so pervasive that we had "CongratBot" to make fun of this stuff, and Memegen to somewhat counteract it. But Silly Valley is the poster-child for "hey don't be a downer" communications vibes. As the child of a super-critical German father, it always seems insincere to me.
nicbou 2y ago
And those ideas seem far more in line with millenial Silicon Valley culture. It's weird when they expect Germans to fake that sort of overly formal, overly cheery tone. People just don't talk like that.
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  Yeah, my father is German, and I'm Canadian, but of a .. grouchy ... variety. This kind of business culture has never really fit with me. But it's how the people with the $$ speak.
deleted 2y ago
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deleted 2y ago

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retropragma 2y ago

It's just shitty prompt design

summermusic 2y ago
No, it's because the AI makes shit up. No amount of prompting will fix this.
mronetwo 2y ago
Well... that's a very 2025 sentence...

yawnxyz 2y ago

this is like when my manager once yelled at me for not writing in corp speak enough

Freak_NL 2y ago
“OK Fine. But could you at least yell at me in corp speak?” It's no surprise LLMs are using corp speak and vapid marketing prose as a template. There is so much of it out there. This is from that Autodesk post last week where they admitted their mistake and… Nope it's corp speak: “We are excited to share some important updates regarding Archiving and our Idea Boards and Forums that aim to enhance your experience and ensure valuable content remains accessible. Please read the details below to understand how these changes might impact you.” Barf. But to an LLM this looks like a human communicating in a meaningful way.
- nicbou 2y ago
  > Look, we need to align on language here. If you’re not speaking in scalable, results-driven terminology, you’re slowing down the team. We don’t “talk about things”—we sync and strategize. We don’t “try something new”—we leverage data-driven insights to drive innovation.