[booleandilemma]

I don't know if I trust this as much as I did in the past. There's lots of competition out there. Lots of AI companies that want to slurp up data. It's a nice warm and fuzzy thing to say but I don't think it helps you, it just helps competitors get the jump on you.

[simonw]

Fear of AI companies "slurping up data" being used as a rationale for not sharing anything is one of the most underrated harms of the whole current AI mess.

[dimes]

It’s not a fear. It’s reality. It’s literally happening on HN right now.

Take this game, for example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47698455

Within an hour, someone had cloned the game with addition mechanics that multiple people mentioned they like more: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47729573

[simonw]

That's not an AI company "slurping up data", that's someone using AI tools to accelerate their own personal clone of a project.

[booleandilemma]

I think you're missing the point. The game (no pun intended?) has changed. Working with the garage door up has become a liability.

[simonw]

Doesn't feel particularly different to me, I've been publishing my side projects as open source code on GitHub for over a decade.

The effort required to adapt them has dropped, but I've always exposed them to being adapted.

[dimes]

> Doesn't feel particularly different to me

> The effort required to adapt them has dropped

AI is an entirely different situation because the effort required to copy has dropped by multiple orders of magnitude. You used to be able to build in the open without worrying about copycats because the vast majority of people didn’t want to spend the effort. Now (with AI), even someone with the slightest, most fleeting whim can copy your work.

It’s great that you’re open to being adapted. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re not open to having your ideas outright taken, then it’s not safe to build in the open any longer.

[fnord77]

no we got something better out of it

[fragmede]

Why is that a bad thing? Person 1 built a thing, and then someone came along and made it better? It's a game, so better is subjective, but should ideas only ever come from Person 1, while everyone else just gazes upon them with slack jawed awe, unable to contribute?

[dredmorbius]

I read simonw's comment not as dismissing the reality, but rather highlighting the harm of discouraging sharing.

The slurping can be both real and the induced reluctance to share a harm.

[booleandilemma]

I completely agree. Honestly I wish we could go back to before AI. I don't like where it's taking us at all. Changing how we write code is just the beginning. Next we'll be replacing humans altogether. I've already had an interview with a soulless "AI recruiter" bot. We can't go back now of course, but one can dream.