Ask HN: Do you read differently now that anything could be AI generated?

or How has AI generated content changed what and how you read?

9 points | by dwa3592 18 hours ago

7 comments

  • ValtteriL 15 hours ago
    For AI written content I have a very low tolerance. I bounce right away when I notice I'm reading generated content, especially if it tries to be an essay or anything else than direct answer to my question at hand.

    When it comes to books, I avoid anything written by an author debuting after 2022 unless there is a strong recommendation by someone close.

    As for genres, it has made me read less purely technical books. My assumption is that I can learn enough of the subject as I go by chatting with a model.

    • skyberrys 5 hours ago
      That's funny, I actively seek out books written post 2022, because I enjoy the injection of AI related humor and commentary that some authors include.

      Similar to how movies now include texting dialogue sometimes, it's now part of art to imitate life. I imagine modern film has couples who met through AI now and so on.

    • dwa3592 14 hours ago
      >>When it comes to books, I avoid anything written by an author debuting after 2022

      I like that and that's what i have been doing.

      Do you go by the feels that the content you are reading is AI generated?

    • bdangubic 14 hours ago
      > When it comes to books, I avoid anything written by an author debuting after 2022

      This is how civilizations end… Like we are done writing books now? Art too? We gonna stop here? Not sure I understand how this makes any sense…

      • dwa3592 14 hours ago
        >>This is how civilizations end.

        I concur. It doesn't make any sense.

      • catcowcostume 9 hours ago
        One guys stops reading post 2022 books and civilization will end?

        Everyone has their own standards. There are people not reading post 1900 books for a while and we still have new books. Let people live by their own rules ffs

        • dwa3592 4 hours ago
          No! The civilization won't end because one guy stopped reading books but it might be very very bad for the civilization if people stopped producing original work because AI disincentivized it.
  • dokdev 2 hours ago
    As soon as I realize that it was AI generated, I stop reading. If I am on social media, I also unfollow the account that posted it. There is also a great blog post on this. [1] There is also one other point. To me, everything that comes from an AI needs verification. It goes to a grey area in my mind. It is neither true nor false which makes it very hard for me to learn from AI as well.

    [1] https://raymyers.org/post/dont-make-me-talk-to-your-chatbot/

  • Blackstrat 15 hours ago
    Fundamentally, if it comes from AI, I'm not interested. I would not rely on AI summaries, and certainly nothing identified as AI produced. AI is not creative in the human sense. I would never knowingly waste time reading something produced by a room full of monkeys banging on a keyboard. The same is true of AI produced code. LLMs are a malignancy that needs to be excised from society.
    • dwa3592 14 hours ago
      haha, i get that feeling sometimes. do you look for acknowledged use of AI? how do you tell it's coming from AI?
  • sminchev 15 hours ago
    Reading a book, I do for fun. to get the stress away. Reading a novel is a whole new experience. To feel the story, imagine the characters, imagine how they feel, how they think. To really hate the bad guy....

    AI can't replace that!

    • dwa3592 15 hours ago
      Nice! do you worry that you might start reading a book and it turns out to be AI generated?
      • sminchev 15 hours ago
        There are enough history novels out there ;)
      • sdevonoes 14 hours ago
        There is enough good material pre 2022
  • aewz6 17 hours ago
    Stopped reading books. I just ask for summaries of what I am interested in and then deep dive. Then I make notes of the whole session. Review it everyday and keep shrinking it down as much as possible. That file I preload as memory for next session.
    • sdevonoes 14 hours ago
      Good try, Sam Altman
    • dwa3592 16 hours ago
      >>Stopped reading books.

      Because they could AI generated or because summaries are enough to understand the main ideas?- what if the book is AI generated in the first place?

      What about news articles?

  • Olivia_Pan 3 hours ago
    [dead]
  • hamza987654321 13 hours ago
    [dead]