Mastodawn

... and and and and ...

I really like how watching the uxn channel on the concatenative discord has really left a permanent mark in my brain. Me and the rest of the mods basically let it operate as an automous zone in the discord. I even had it muted for the most part. Unbenounced to everyone outside that channel however, an AI booster and vibecoder had joined.

In a matter of a month or so, he killed the whole channel. Strangled it with his refusal to think. Every word someone said was feed straight into an LLM. Then, thrown back at chat cause the LLM could predict the correct code, and he could understand anything.

Eventually everyone grew so tired they began leaving. One fucking person leeched off a whole community. Never. Again. Ever inch you cede to LLM contributions in your community is another step towards its implosion. There is a reason so much of the art community has vehemently rejected whole sale.

But programmers need their new toys. And programmers demand every space follows industry trends and recommendation. And programmers cannot handle the idea of someone saying "no, we don't do that here". Cause nobody gets to say No in the software world. Things are always forced to evolve, consequences be damned.

I made the mistake once. I will not be making it twice. Do not help build the new car depedent infrastructure or everything you care about will be paved over.

... and and and and ...1d ago

AI booster are gonna write blog post about contributing to your project with AI. They are gonna boast about it on linkedin. Humble brag their FOSS cred on X. And everytime they do you will see a 10x increase in signal-shaped noise. And you will drown. This is the goal.

... and and and and ...1d ago

If you are already treading water, why the fuck would you add more to the room?

... and and and and ...1d ago

Anyways, my prediction any place that doesn't start hard banning violators of the social contracts which FOSS depends on and attempt to establish any kind of "resposible LLM usage policy" or maintain a "it is a tool" mentality will sorely regret it as time goes on or cede to the noise fully.

... and and and and ...1d ago

I think the most frustrating part is so many people trying to push for "it's just a tool" when the consequence of said tool are so absurdly clear. I have seen where this ends. The only salve for this is making every aspect of your community openly hostile to LLM usage. Degrade the technology, mock it at every turn, name and shame bad PRs, remove individuals that cannot respect anti-llm policies. They can come back when they are done with their power trip and rip out all the weeds they planted.

Shutdown irrelevant whataboutism for being irrelevant whataboutism. "yeah, and?" that shit into the can.

... and and and and ...1d ago

Having AI boosters trying to guilt trip me into a soft/open stance on LLMs has pissed me off to an unbelievable degree. This. is. not. how. you. fix. mass. burnout.

You need to stop. Possible forever.

... and and and and ...1d ago

If the problem is too much, the solution must be less. There is no otherway it can be.

Paul Rietschka 1d ago

@andnull It's "just a tool" that's destroyed software development in a matter of months, and is being sold to management as a full-fledged labor replacement technology.

But, remember, it's "just a tool," and that mocking the tool, or calling out its corrosiveness, is Luddism of the worst sort.

When in doubt, just repeat "it's only a tool!"

Dylan Thomas, Psps Participle 1d ago

@andnull I'm going to remember you in quote.

"Do not help build the new car dependent infrastructure or everything you care about will be paved over."

thank you for this.

... and and and and ...1d ago

@DylanTheThomas It should be firmly thrown at anyone that says "okay, but what about cars?" Like, if there is already one example of how a tool can shape the world for worse, with its negative consequences well studied, why would I help do it again???

(and there is also well study evidence that pushing back against car infrastructure is possible and beneficial)

So, very glad to provide a strong and decisive retort to anyone trying that one on you.

Dylan Thomas, Psps Participle 1d ago

@andnull more facts are always good. I'm 100% in support of undoing our car infrastructure ways.

even bought an ebike last year for commuting to work which i absolutely love.

@andnull thank you for this post, I'm very aligned with you on this hill, my strategy is also to mock LLM and people who promote it in every spaces, this is why my current and future places (I'm building a good old web forum) will have it in rules: "any promotion or usage of AIgen/LLM things will result in an immediate ban"

Dan Dean 1d ago

@andnull The parallel with car-dependent infrastructure is SO STRONG. We have seen this community-destroying "progress-shaped" thing before, and we should be wise enough to reject it.

Michelle Hughes 1d ago

"Do not help build the new car depedent infrastructure or everything you care about will be paved over."

OOoooo, good framing!!

ratfactor 22h ago

@andnull I'm 100% with you. I like to think of myself as a flexible and reasonable person, but this is one of those things that requires a hardline stance.

Julia Rez 10h ago

"And programmers cannot handle the idea of someone saying "no, we don't do that here". Cause nobody gets to say No in the software world."

'Oof'. But also 'hm. awks.'

@andnull did this happen a while ago or do i have to do some more reading of https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:LLMSIGNS ? I scrolled back through it a couple months and only found someone briefly bring up Claude and get shut down.

Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia

@andnull i say that shit all the time

gábor ugray 1h ago

@andnull @mattly absolutelt not writing this to pick on your post, but "unbenounced" is the greatest non-existent word i've spotted in the wild in a long time! i'm abeolutely running with it. it exists now.