5 ms·

Polite to whom?

qsera 7mo ago
I think it is easier to be polite always and not switch between polite and non-polite mode depending on who you are talking to.
- cpt_sobel 7mo ago
  I get what you're saying, but I'm not talking about swearing at the model or anything, I'm only implying that investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence doesn't or shouldn't bring any value, and that I don't care if I hurt the model's feelings (it doesn't have any). Note, why would the author write "Email will arrive from a webhook, yes." instead of "yy webhook"? In the second case I wouldn't be impolite either, I might reply like this in an IM to a colleague I work with every day.
  - jstanley 7mo ago
    "yy webhook" is much less clear. It could just as easily mean "why webhook" as "yes webhook". It's also actually more trouble to formulate abbreviated sentences than normal ones, at least for literate adults who can type reasonably well.
    - cpt_sobel 7mo ago
      I confidently assume that the model has been trained on an ungodly amount of abbreviated text and "yy" has always meant "yeah". > literate adults who can type reasonably well For me the difference is around 20 wpm in writing speed if just write out my stream of thoughts vs when I care about typos and capitalizing words - I find real value in this.
  - well_ackshually 7mo ago
    >investing energy For the vast majority of people, using capital letters and saying please doesn't consume energy, it just is. There's a thousand things in your day that consume more energy like a shitty 9AM daily.
  - qsera 7mo ago
    [dead]
  - stavros 7mo ago
    It's just easier for me to write that way. In that specific sentence, I also kind of reaffirmed what was going on in my head and typed my thought process out loud. There's no deeper logic than that, it's just what's easier for me.
  - layer8 7mo ago
    > investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence It would cost me energy to deliberately not write with proper grammar and orthography. I would never want to write sloppily to a colleague either.
  - chriswarbo 7mo ago
    > investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence This seem to be completely subjective; I write syntactically/grammatically "nice" sentences to LLMs, because that's how I write. I would have to "invest energy" to force myself to write in that supposedly "simpler" style.
- silversmith 7mo ago
  I believe it's less about politeness and more about pronouns. You used `who`, whereas I would use `what` in that sentence. In my world view, a LLM is far closer to a fridge than the androids of the movies, let alone human beings. So it's about as pointless being polite to it as is greeting your fridge when you walk into the kitchen. But I know that others feel different, treating the ability to generate coherent responses as indication of the "divine spark".
  - darkerside 7mo ago
    I'd say it's more related to getting dressed for work even if you're remote and have no video calls
jstummbillig 7mo ago
Anything or anyone. Being polite to your surroundings reflects in your surroundings.
- pferde 7mo ago
  Did you thank your keyboard for letting you type this comment?
  - jstummbillig 6mo ago
    No. I would not consider that a useful form of politeness towards an object (but, clearly, others disagree). I chose to wash hands, clean the keyboard regularly and steer clear of abusing it in other ways.
northzen 7mo ago
To machine. It just easier to be polite by default than split our language into two forms "I speak to human" and "I speak to machine". Because the chat interface is really close to what we see when we speak to human. Well, exactly the same.
raincole 6mo ago
To the computer? Many cultures pay respect to mountains, rivers and fields. Many people act differently round churches and monuments. I see nothing wrong being polite to a machine. Especially a machine that makes you money.

Polite to whom?

qsera 7mo ago

I think it is easier to be polite always and not switch between polite and non-polite mode depending on who you are talking to.

cpt_sobel 7mo ago
I get what you're saying, but I'm not talking about swearing at the model or anything, I'm only implying that investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence doesn't or shouldn't bring any value, and that I don't care if I hurt the model's feelings (it doesn't have any). Note, why would the author write "Email will arrive from a webhook, yes." instead of "yy webhook"? In the second case I wouldn't be impolite either, I might reply like this in an IM to a colleague I work with every day.
- jstanley 7mo ago
  "yy webhook" is much less clear. It could just as easily mean "why webhook" as "yes webhook". It's also actually more trouble to formulate abbreviated sentences than normal ones, at least for literate adults who can type reasonably well.
  - cpt_sobel 7mo ago
    I confidently assume that the model has been trained on an ungodly amount of abbreviated text and "yy" has always meant "yeah". > literate adults who can type reasonably well For me the difference is around 20 wpm in writing speed if just write out my stream of thoughts vs when I care about typos and capitalizing words - I find real value in this.
- well_ackshually 7mo ago
  >investing energy For the vast majority of people, using capital letters and saying please doesn't consume energy, it just is. There's a thousand things in your day that consume more energy like a shitty 9AM daily.
- qsera 7mo ago
  [dead]
- stavros 7mo ago
  It's just easier for me to write that way. In that specific sentence, I also kind of reaffirmed what was going on in my head and typed my thought process out loud. There's no deeper logic than that, it's just what's easier for me.
- layer8 7mo ago
  > investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence It would cost me energy to deliberately not write with proper grammar and orthography. I would never want to write sloppily to a colleague either.
- chriswarbo 7mo ago
  > investing energy in formulating a syntactically nice sentence This seem to be completely subjective; I write syntactically/grammatically "nice" sentences to LLMs, because that's how I write. I would have to "invest energy" to force myself to write in that supposedly "simpler" style.
silversmith 7mo ago
I believe it's less about politeness and more about pronouns. You used `who`, whereas I would use `what` in that sentence. In my world view, a LLM is far closer to a fridge than the androids of the movies, let alone human beings. So it's about as pointless being polite to it as is greeting your fridge when you walk into the kitchen. But I know that others feel different, treating the ability to generate coherent responses as indication of the "divine spark".
- darkerside 7mo ago
  I'd say it's more related to getting dressed for work even if you're remote and have no video calls

jstummbillig 7mo ago

Anything or anyone. Being polite to your surroundings reflects in your surroundings.

pferde 7mo ago
Did you thank your keyboard for letting you type this comment?
- jstummbillig 6mo ago
  No. I would not consider that a useful form of politeness towards an object (but, clearly, others disagree). I chose to wash hands, clean the keyboard regularly and steer clear of abusing it in other ways.

northzen 7mo ago

To machine. It just easier to be polite by default than split our language into two forms "I speak to human" and "I speak to machine". Because the chat interface is really close to what we see when we speak to human. Well, exactly the same.

raincole 6mo ago

To the computer? Many cultures pay respect to mountains, rivers and fields. Many people act differently round churches and monuments. I see nothing wrong being polite to a machine. Especially a machine that makes you money.