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You’re being unfairly downvoted. There is a plague of well-groomed incoherency in half of the business emails I receive today. You can often tell that the autho

You’re being unfairly downvoted. There is a plague of well-groomed incoherency in half of the business emails I receive today. You can often tell that the author, without wrestling with the text to figure out what they want to say, is a kind of stochastic parrot. This is okay for platitudes, but for emails that really matter, having this messy watercolor kind of writing totally destroys the clarity of the text and confuses everyone. To your point, I’ve asked everyone on my team to refrain from writing words (not code) with ChatGPT or other tools, because the LLM invariably leads to more complicated output than the author just badly, but authentically, trying to express themselves in the text.

acedTrex 1y ago
Yep, I have come to really dislike LLMs for documentation as it just reads wrong to me and I find so often misses the point entirely. There is so much nuance tied up in documentation and much of it is in what is NOT said as much as what is said. The LLMs struggle with both but REALLY struggle with figuring out what NOT to say.
- short_sells_poo 1y ago
  I wonder if this is to a large degree also because when we communicate with humans, we take cues from more than just the text. The personality of the author will project into the text they write, and assuming you know this person at least a little bit, these nuances will give you extra information.
- unsignedint 1y ago
  I definitely see where you're coming from, though I have a slightly different perspective. I agree that LLMs often fall short when it comes to capturing the nuanced reasoning behind implementations—and when used in an autopilot fashion, things can easily go off the rails. Documentation isn't just about what is said, but also what’s not said, and that kind of judgment is something LLMs do struggle with. That said, when there's sufficient context and structure, I think LLMs can still provide a solid starting point. It’s not about replacing careful documentation but about lowering the barrier to getting something down—especially in environments where documentation tends to be neglected. In my experience, that neglect can stem from a few things: personal preference, time pressure, or more commonly, language barriers. For non-native speakers, even when they fully understand the material, writing clear and fluent documentation can be a daunting and time-consuming task. That alone can push it to the back burner. Add in the fact that docs need to evolve alongside the code, and it becomes a compounding issue. So yes, if someone treats LLM output as the final product and walks away, that’s a real problem. And honestly, this ties into my broader skepticism around the “vibe coding” trend—it often feels more like “fire and forget” than responsible tool usage. But when approached thoughtfully, even a 60–90% draft from an LLM can be incredibly useful—especially in situations where the alternative is having no documentation at all. It’s not perfect, but it can help teams get unstuck and move forward with something workable.
jimbokun 1y ago
I find the idea of using LLMs for emails confusing. Surely it's less work to put the words you want to say into an email, rather than craft a prompt to get the LLM to say what you want to say, and iterate until the LLM actually says it?
- fwip 1y ago
  My own opinion, which is admittedly too harsh, is that they don't really know what they want to say. That is, the prompt they write is very short, along the lines of `ask when this will be done` or `schedule a followup`, and give the LLM output a cursory review before copy-pasting it.
  - jimbokun 1y ago
    Still funny to me. `ask when this will be done` -> ChatGPT -> paste answer into email vs type: "when will this be done?" Send.
    - sebmellen 1y ago
      Greetings Jimbokun, I trust this message finds you well. I am writing to inquire about the projected completion timeline for the HackerNews initiative. In order to optimize our downstream workflows and ensure all dependencies are properly aligned, an estimated delivery date would be highly valuable. Could you please provide an updated forecast on when we might anticipate the project's conclusion? This data will assist in calibrating our subsequent operational parameters. Thank you for your continued focus and effort on this task. Please advise if any additional resources or support from my end could help expedite the process. Best regards, Sebmellen

acedTrex 1y ago

Yep, I have come to really dislike LLMs for documentation as it just reads wrong to me and I find so often misses the point entirely. There is so much nuance tied up in documentation and much of it is in what is NOT said as much as what is said. The LLMs struggle with both but REALLY struggle with figuring out what NOT to say.

short_sells_poo 1y ago
I wonder if this is to a large degree also because when we communicate with humans, we take cues from more than just the text. The personality of the author will project into the text they write, and assuming you know this person at least a little bit, these nuances will give you extra information.
unsignedint 1y ago
I definitely see where you're coming from, though I have a slightly different perspective. I agree that LLMs often fall short when it comes to capturing the nuanced reasoning behind implementations—and when used in an autopilot fashion, things can easily go off the rails. Documentation isn't just about what is said, but also what’s not said, and that kind of judgment is something LLMs do struggle with. That said, when there's sufficient context and structure, I think LLMs can still provide a solid starting point. It’s not about replacing careful documentation but about lowering the barrier to getting something down—especially in environments where documentation tends to be neglected. In my experience, that neglect can stem from a few things: personal preference, time pressure, or more commonly, language barriers. For non-native speakers, even when they fully understand the material, writing clear and fluent documentation can be a daunting and time-consuming task. That alone can push it to the back burner. Add in the fact that docs need to evolve alongside the code, and it becomes a compounding issue. So yes, if someone treats LLM output as the final product and walks away, that’s a real problem. And honestly, this ties into my broader skepticism around the “vibe coding” trend—it often feels more like “fire and forget” than responsible tool usage. But when approached thoughtfully, even a 60–90% draft from an LLM can be incredibly useful—especially in situations where the alternative is having no documentation at all. It’s not perfect, but it can help teams get unstuck and move forward with something workable.

jimbokun 1y ago

I find the idea of using LLMs for emails confusing. Surely it's less work to put the words you want to say into an email, rather than craft a prompt to get the LLM to say what you want to say, and iterate until the LLM actually says it?

fwip 1y ago
My own opinion, which is admittedly too harsh, is that they don't really know what they want to say. That is, the prompt they write is very short, along the lines of `ask when this will be done` or `schedule a followup`, and give the LLM output a cursory review before copy-pasting it.
- jimbokun 1y ago
  Still funny to me. `ask when this will be done` -> ChatGPT -> paste answer into email vs type: "when will this be done?" Send.
  - sebmellen 1y ago
    Greetings Jimbokun, I trust this message finds you well. I am writing to inquire about the projected completion timeline for the HackerNews initiative. In order to optimize our downstream workflows and ensure all dependencies are properly aligned, an estimated delivery date would be highly valuable. Could you please provide an updated forecast on when we might anticipate the project's conclusion? This data will assist in calibrating our subsequent operational parameters. Thank you for your continued focus and effort on this task. Please advise if any additional resources or support from my end could help expedite the process. Best regards, Sebmellen