Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by px43 559 days ago
Isn't this an advancement in communication though? People can put out a message in whatever language or style they prefer, the machine translators translate it into an overly verbose AI vomit, and readers condense it back down into the exact kind of personalized language they're wanting to consume.
6 comments

Depends on your theory of communication, I guess. If it’s to get the most tailored message possible, then yeah it is an advancement. But if it’s about communicating authentic feelings/thoughts between two people, then it’s a big step backwards. This might not be super relevant for random website content, but if for example people start using generative AI to communicate with each other, I think it will feel very alienating.
I got a thank you email the other day after a meeting that was clearly written by AI, it was a real turn off. English was the authors second language, but she does public speaking in English, so I know she has decent command. Regardless, id still rather get an authentic heart felt thank you in broken English then a fake one. It comes off as inauthentic.
It's exactly the same as using a complex networking protocol to transmit a very simple text string across the internet. There's reasons why it's efficient, and ignoring them is like asking why we can't just netcat from local ip to local ip. Ceremony is, unfortunately, necessary, as is preserving formalities and egos.
It is both lossy and takes up more space, how is that an advancement?
"Communication" isnt about "personalization" when i communicate with you, I'm not looking for you to tell med what i already know. Im looking for you to tell me what YOU know in the style YOU want.
I think it's strictly worse than Google Translate-ing your bullet point notes?
No, because it's an inauthentic message. Your're speaking to your AI, like a politician who only hears about developments from his advisors. How can he know if he's getting the real truth of things?
that's an interesting idea, we might get to hear what we want. it's like when you tell a manager "yes it would work that way but it would require more time", they hear "yes that's fine!"