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Out of the Software Crisis
Personal blog · softwarecrisis.dev/lettersprogrammingai
Out of the Software Crisis is a personal blog at softwarecrisis.dev about programming and ai. Since 2023, 23 different Hacker News readers have linked it 43 times, most often “The LLMentalist Effect (2023)”. The last post was in 2023, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (10) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog's essays on AI and software, especially "The LLMentalist Effect," which compares chat-based LLMs to a psychic's cold-reading con. Also linked: an essay arguing tech is a pop culture.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 10 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
How to make better software with systems-thinking
Most-linked posts?
- The LLMentalist Effect (2023)11 people · 13 mentions · first linked 2023-07-04
- Artificial General Intelligence and the Bird Brains of Silicon Valley2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-05-02
- Modern software quality, or why using language models for programming is bad2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-06-11
- Tech Companies Are Irrational Pop Cultures2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-01-10
What Hacker News says?
There was a great post here about this specific possibility, that NN crowd has effectively convinced themselves in the supernatural abilities of their NNs: https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “Please don't mention AI again”Submitted The LLMentalist Effect (2023) as a story · 235 points
HN discussion> The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/ Plus there's a gambling mechanic: Push the button, sometimes get things for free.
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “Measuring the impact of AI on experienced open-source developer productivity”Submitted The LLMentalist Effect as a story · 144 points
HN discussionThey've conned themselves with the LLMs they use, and are desperate to keep the con going: "The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con" https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time”Submitted Out of the Software Crisis as a story · 7 points
HN discussionThe “Based on…” prompt is simply a horoscope. This is a great piece about how LLMs use the same tricks as psychics to appear helpful, useful, and intelligent. https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “LLMs should not replace therapists”Submitted Tech Companies Are Irrational Pop Cultures as a story · 4 points
HN discussionThis exact characterization was noted two years ago. https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “What happens when people don't understand how AI works”Submitted Modern software quality, or why using language models for programming is bad as a story · 3 points
HN discussionOr, put more negatively, like a mentalist? https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years”Submitted The LLMentalist Effect: chat LLMs replicating the mechanisms of a psychic's con as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI've got to say, I like how people have started paying attention to these laws, actually reading them, and them write measured takes based in reality, and not in the hallucinations by the industry that is usually very much oppposed to any kind of regulation. Other good takes in recent regulations: - Unraveling the EU Digital Markets Act https://ia.net/topics/unraveling-the-digital-markets-act - The truth about the E…
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “EU Cyber Resilience Act: What does it mean for open source?”Submitted Chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis article shows up here once in a while, but it's a good read: https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/tech-is-a-pop-culture/
Comment linking /letters/tech-is-a-pop-culture/
on “You want microservices, but do you need them?”Submitted Modern software quality, or why using language models for programming is a bad as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThe slot machine is an excellent metaphor. Feeding the LLM prompts over and over, seeing incorrect results most of the time but once in a while hitting the correct response jackpot. Feeding the exact prompt again and getting a different result. https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “AI is going to hack Jira”Submitted The Poisoning of ChatGPT as a story · 2 points
HN discussionYou can read through EU AI Act, or read this excellent article about it: https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-ac...
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “AI regulations are crony capitalism”Submitted The truth about the EU AI Act and foundation models as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> In general there is a lot of good intentions, but there is simply no clear reason why there is a need for special regulation on AI. Everything that is forbidden to do without AI is also forbidden with AI. But EU constantly sees the need to spin new regulation Please stop spreading FUD. Here's a good overview of the AI regulation including the reasons why it's needed: https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/the-truth-ab…
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “EU Commissioner as double agent of foreign interference”Submitted Artificial General Intelligence and the Bird Brains of Silicon Valley as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> I have a few questions about this sort of legislation. How do you determine what "AI" even is in this context? Instead of linking 4 wikipedia articles you... could find the text of the legislation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A... > Although it sounds crazy I fell like certain kinds of math (like matrix multiplication, gradient decent, and simulated annealing) will soon be outlawed u…
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “Tech world won't have long to fall in line when EU signs off on AI Act”Submitted The Elegiac Hindsight of Intelligent Machines (2023) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionRelevant: The truth about the EU AI Act and foundation models, or why you should not rely on ChatGPT summaries for important texts https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-ac...
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “Tech world won't have long to fall in line when EU signs off on AI Act”Submitted A Prayer Wheel for Capitalism as a story · 1 points
HN discussionVery much so, people try to sell it like it's a magical solution to all the world problems. Even if it was as amazing as people tout it to be right now (it isn't) it wouldn't make our lives better. Maybe faster, a bit cheaper (for some) but not better in the most fundamental sense. We can do better right now but choose to ignore our most important issues to chase the new shiny thing. AI R&D definitively has its plac…
Comment linking /letters/llmentalist/
on “Ask HN: Anyone here burnt out of the AI hype?”Submitted Prompts are not fit for purpose as a story · 1 points
HN discussionAnd ironically he will be part of the reason to support EU AI act that requires you document and test your foundational models: https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-ac...
Comment linking /letters/the-truth-about-the-eu-act/
on “Grok”Submitted Artificial General Intelligence and the bird brains of Silicon Valley as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
