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>My experience is LLMs can write very very well; we just have to care. My experience is that people who think this are really bad writers. That's fine, because

>My experience is LLMs can write very very well; we just have to care. My experience is that people who think this are really bad writers. That's fine, because most human writing is bad too. So if your goal is just to put more bad writing into the world for commercial reasons, then there's some utility in it for sure.

api 1y ago
As with visual art, AI is replacing humans when it comes to creating filler and background material. I haven’t seen many examples of anything in either visual or prose arts coming out of an AI that I’ve liked, and the ones I have seen seem like they took a human doing a lot of prompting to the point that they are essentially human made art using the AI as a renderer. (Which is fine. I’m just saying the AI didn’t make it autonomously.)
Herring 1y ago
Then in the A/B test you're the 1 fail out of 7 tries, everyone else loved it, and you haven't even looked at it. I can live with those results. Lesson is don't always publicize the LLM help.
- the_af 1y ago
  > everyone else loved it Most people are very bad readers, too. For example, most of my coworkers don't read books at all, and the few that do, only read tech or work-related books. (Note that most don't even read that).
  - Herring 1y ago
    That doesn't matter. It's like code syntax highlighting -- A good tool benefits everyone. You can pride yourself on doing it the hard way, like reading monochromatic code, but the world has already moved on. FWIW I think there's a kernel of truth when you worry about reading skills, but 1) that's a longer trend involving all kinds of political and cultural issues, and 2) right now I'm happy with any improvement to technical communication. I think people might read more if books were better written & more respectful of their time.
    - the_af 1y ago
      > That doesn't matter. It's like code syntax highlighting -- A good tool benefits everyone. I obviously disagree: it does matter. "Most" people love your AI-assisted writing because they have no taste; or rather, they are not good at reading. Yes, one must become good at reading, it must be exercized. Reading and writing -- use it or lose it; the brain is a metaphorical "muscle". > I'm happy with any improvement to technical communication If you mean business emails, corporate communications, even teamwork related things, I agree. That's mostly boilerplate writing anyway, and everyone understands it's the "junk food" of writing and reading, so why not automate it? Like the person you replied to said, very aptly: > So if your goal is just to put more bad writing into the world for commercial reasons, then there's some utility in it for sure. If you instead mean creative writing -- as I thought you were also claiming -- I strongly disagree.

api 1y ago

As with visual art, AI is replacing humans when it comes to creating filler and background material. I haven’t seen many examples of anything in either visual or prose arts coming out of an AI that I’ve liked, and the ones I have seen seem like they took a human doing a lot of prompting to the point that they are essentially human made art using the AI as a renderer. (Which is fine. I’m just saying the AI didn’t make it autonomously.)

Herring 1y ago

Then in the A/B test you're the 1 fail out of 7 tries, everyone else loved it, and you haven't even looked at it. I can live with those results. Lesson is don't always publicize the LLM help.

the_af 1y ago
> everyone else loved it Most people are very bad readers, too. For example, most of my coworkers don't read books at all, and the few that do, only read tech or work-related books. (Note that most don't even read that).
- Herring 1y ago
  That doesn't matter. It's like code syntax highlighting -- A good tool benefits everyone. You can pride yourself on doing it the hard way, like reading monochromatic code, but the world has already moved on. FWIW I think there's a kernel of truth when you worry about reading skills, but 1) that's a longer trend involving all kinds of political and cultural issues, and 2) right now I'm happy with any improvement to technical communication. I think people might read more if books were better written & more respectful of their time.
  - the_af 1y ago
    > That doesn't matter. It's like code syntax highlighting -- A good tool benefits everyone. I obviously disagree: it does matter. "Most" people love your AI-assisted writing because they have no taste; or rather, they are not good at reading. Yes, one must become good at reading, it must be exercized. Reading and writing -- use it or lose it; the brain is a metaphorical "muscle". > I'm happy with any improvement to technical communication If you mean business emails, corporate communications, even teamwork related things, I agree. That's mostly boilerplate writing anyway, and everyone understands it's the "junk food" of writing and reading, so why not automate it? Like the person you replied to said, very aptly: > So if your goal is just to put more bad writing into the world for commercial reasons, then there's some utility in it for sure. If you instead mean creative writing -- as I thought you were also claiming -- I strongly disagree.