Ask HN: Is AI use not allowed in projects which is shared here to show?
Dear members, I saw someone show HN project got flagged and people were commenting it is probably because it looked AI slop. I'm curious, is AI use not allowed in projects which is shown here ? I think, everyone is using AI in projects these days, isn't it ?
Projects using Ai are fine
What's not is (a) submitting low quality Ai output, stay in the loop (b) using Ai to post or comment on HN, no bots
The purpose of Show HN is to "show something you've made that other people can play with. HN users can try it out, give you feedback, and ask questions in the thread" (https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html)
That isn't possible with many AI generated projects because OP didn't write the code, probably doesn't understand the code and can't discuss the code or their process in creating it (because said process doesn't exist.) There is little if anything of substance to discuss or play with to satisfy intellectual curiosity, and in many cases the projects themselves wouldn't pass muster if written by a human, they're just vibe-coded slop.
There have been exceptions which have done well (ex:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49550375) but in that case AI was used in a specific technical context by someone knowledgeable who definitely wasn't "vibe coding" anything. But again - if a human had done all of that work, it would still have been a worthwhile post.
Show HN can't simply be a place where people post slop and everyone claps at how cool the latest models are. It can't simply be advertising for LLMs.
True, thanks for your explanation. I was thinking the same, because I use AI to speed up and I don't accept code unless I know what the code does. Even in YC, I've seen many founders build prototype with AI but again, there's difference between AI slop and AI assisted.
My personal bar for whether a project is AI slop or not (setting aside my personal misgivings about AI in general) is if you could have done it yourself without AI. If not, then the AI is doing all of the heavy lifting and the end result isn't something you made, it's something you had made. Even if you personally find it useful or entertaining, it likely isn't worth posting here.
I agree. Luckily I learnt coding during covid before AI and I experienced how to debug/build through google, stackoverflow etc. Those who are just starting and using AI for everything, they don't know what's called real brainstorming unless AI fails to debug or give expected results.
Why would I spend my time reviewing something that the “author” didn’t even spend time to create? I think there is a huge difference between AI assisted and AI slop
Yeah, I agree. Unless it's just AI assisted, then reviewing makes sense.
Curious when slop becomes, not slop. Revenue? Profit? At what point do detractors throw in the towel? Honest question.
For example DHH shipped an entire vibe coded Linux distribution. Should we all roll of eyes at that?
Weird times.
I think it becomes not slop when it is useful or unique. The projects that just lazily reimplement something that has been done 10 times before are generally the least impressive
Quality. Clarity. Intention. All things that suffer when AI agents haphazardly assemble a project with a naive user.
quality, humans post human slop here too