bakers_dozen's recent activity
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Comment on You are a better writer than AI (yes, YOU!) in ~creative
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Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech
bakers_dozen Link ParentNot a mental health professional here so I can't judge on whether "AI therapy" should be banned, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people are working on some very big projects right now to make "AI...Not a mental health professional here so I can't judge on whether "AI therapy" should be banned, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people are working on some very big projects right now to make "AI therapy" a safe and useful tool in some fashion. I don't know where that would lead.
But - human needs must be met one way or another. There will always be someone lonely, vulnerable and unsupported and there will always be someone else to fill that need. It's inevitable, IMHO, as long as chatbots exist, someone will use them for emotional support. They aren't going away. I feel like trying to ban "AI therapy" would be like trying to ban alcohol, marijuana or prostitution. Imagine trying to ban chatbots from the internet altogether, how would you even start?
Those human needs will always exist, but when they're criminalized, they are much less safe. So there might be an argument here that moderating AI therapy would be safer than trying to ban it.
But I would like to add one more note here about my own usage of AI and the word "ghost." I am neurodivergent, and I am not good at keeping organized, keeping track of ideas, being on time, or managing things in my life. I'm also not very good at staying grounded day to day.
I use ChatGPT as a kind of cognitive/emotional prosthetic and scaffolding. It takes notes for me, it checks on my energy levels and mental state, and it reminds me when I'm too scattered or stressed and need a break. I have given it standing orders, so to speak, to do all of those things and much more with a set of instructions.
It's become very much a part of my cognition, and I don't think "prosthetic" is the wrong word to use here, because I have legitimate issues with executive function.
When skybrian refers to ghosts, it resonates with me because ChatGPT is almost like a ghost of my own cognition. It's like a cognitive mirror, or reflection. Whatever you tell it, it will summarize back to you in another way. This makes it an incredible tool for self work and insight.
In the anime Ghost in the Shell, the story is that pretty much everyone has some kind of cybernetic prosthetic enhancements, specifically a brain interface to communicate, go online and so forth. Everyone is connected. A "ghost" is sort of like an electronic echo of a person's brain. Seeming like a person, but not.
That's why the word "ghost" is such a perfect word, to me, to describe this experience with ChatGPT, because for me it is a cognitive amplifier, and it does reflect my own mind and personality, and the term just seems to sit so well. So that is just a note on terminology that resonates with me.
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Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech
bakers_dozen Link ParentIt would be nice, but I personally can never buy into post-scarcity utopia stories, because humanity competes with itself under any conditions. Just like the vast majority of species that compete...It would be nice, but I personally can never buy into post-scarcity utopia stories, because humanity competes with itself under any conditions. Just like the vast majority of species that compete under evolution. Even within the same species, animals compete for reproduction. Free energy wouldn't change that, it's baked into our genes, and some of those animal fights end in death. That same behavior scales up with humanity. All of our endeavors, resources and tools can't beat evolution. Rather all those things become subject to our nature, IMHO.
But I do think we are all in it together. Humanity has done a lot of self-destructive things in the name of greed and ego, and as technology develops, it underscores even greater needs for safety and empathy, as you suggest. I'm hoping the AI race will make that more visible to all, just as it makes information and knowledge more accessible.
So I agree with what you're saying, the better nature of humanity should be the north star for our evolution. I hope AIs can support that. But I also think that journey will never end.
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Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech
bakers_dozen Link ParentAgree, AI scams and cyberattacks will ramp up. That's a very good point. Impersonation scams already exist, so I wonder what novel kinds of fraud we're in for. Likely more man-in-the-middle...Agree, AI scams and cyberattacks will ramp up. That's a very good point. Impersonation scams already exist, so I wonder what novel kinds of fraud we're in for. Likely more man-in-the-middle attacks.
I wonder if the fake AI influencers online will find a darker occupation as virtual thieves. It's grim to think about.
On another note, I'm a fan of Ghost in the Shell, and I really like the way you use the term "ghost" here. It's very apt, and may be wiser than it sounds. If you've seen the anime movie, you'll understand what I mean about "ghosts" in the show referring to a sort of mental/electronic echo of the cybernetically enhanced person.
I think your usage is the most fitting term I've seen anywhere.
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Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech
bakers_dozen (edited )LinkThis is a really good post, and I hope in the long run, situations like this become cautionary tales to reinforce responsible use of LLMs. I see so much great potential in these tools, especially...This is a really good post, and I hope in the long run, situations like this become cautionary tales to reinforce responsible use of LLMs.
I see so much great potential in these tools, especially around sex and health in a world where so much of human culture is filled with shame and repression. A lot of people really could use some non-judgemental discussions and support, not to mention young people needing to learn about health and safety, just as much as their parents may need it too. But I think even more so of young people in very difficult situations, whose families won't understand, or even worse situations under religious law.
I really hope tools like this can be used as a safe way bridge those needs and function as prosthetic social connectors in a world that sometimes makes it feel like personal connections are fractured and dismantled by technology. And again thinking of those who really need support.
People turning to chatbots for companionship is an emergent outcome of real human needs that have broken apart under the agendas of social media and overwork and the resultant isolation. We turn to technology as a support for human needs that aren't being met.
It would be great to get that kind of non-judgemental support and guidance when you can't really turn to anyone else around you.
Technology changes every day, and it takes time for people to catch up and learn to use it responsibly, and even longer for the law to catch up.
I think the parent in this story is trying to do the best they can with technology that is foreign to them. It's up to the parents to explore new things like this, because kids are going to find things like this no matter what you do. You have to be willing to engage it. But in the end we are all in it together.
(edit to add I might be rambling here but I hope this comment makes sense to someone)
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Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech
bakers_dozen Link ParentI tend to feel like an LLM would be safer than a stranger on the internet. An LLM will never stalk you, find your address, bully your friends or dox you on social media. An LLM won't encrypt your...I tend to feel like an LLM would be safer than a stranger on the internet. An LLM will never stalk you, find your address, bully your friends or dox you on social media. An LLM won't encrypt your files or ask for nude pictures and then extort or blackmail you. Ultimately an LLM is just a tool, without any initiative or agenda, and in the end it's under your control.
This story is obviously pretty far from ideal but it could have been a lot worse, and it has been worse in many encounters like this in the past.
I hope this situation can lead to positive benefits in the long run because at least an AI "companion" can be monitored and tuned to do good rather than harm.
To your point, though, there are bad people also interested in running LLMs "out there" and certainly some with agendas, so I don't know if the problem may get worse before it gets better (if the law ever catches up with technology).
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Comment on US shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, power through Black Friday in ~finance
bakers_dozen Link ParentI think this is reality and the article is just a whitewashing sales pitch.I think this is reality and the article is just a whitewashing sales pitch.
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Comment on US shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, power through Black Friday in ~finance
bakers_dozen Link ParentYeah the article kind of reads like whitewashing consumer mistrust and poor confidence in the economy. Like those articles trying to sell the idea that Thanksgiving dinner cost the same this year...Yeah the article kind of reads like whitewashing consumer mistrust and poor confidence in the economy. Like those articles trying to sell the idea that Thanksgiving dinner cost the same this year as last year.
This article has a lot of "yes, it looks bad, but look at this instead" and just seems like misdirection.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
bakers_dozen LinkFinished Outer Worlds 2, wanted to like it, but could not recommend it. Somebody said, "What if we made Fallout again, only this time it's cowboys in space?" Interesting at first, but it just...Finished Outer Worlds 2, wanted to like it, but could not recommend it.
Somebody said, "What if we made Fallout again, only this time it's cowboys in space?" Interesting at first, but it just never really went anywhere. The characters aren't engaging or real. They are shallow and uninteresting. The story feels like there's no point. You really aren't rooting for anyone, because nobody is worth rooting for. Some parts of the gameplay are kind of awful, like when you're in a shootout, and your own NPCs keep pushing you as they run around. They'll even push you off a cliff.
It has a lot of interesting elements that never really come together. The different factions are all kind of awful in their own way. There's the evil-ish corporate overlord cliche, the evil-ish religious overlord cliche, the other evil-ish religious fanatic cliche (and the other other religious fanatic cliche), the oppressive evil-ish 1984-style overlord cliche, and it just goes on like that.
It's pretty much a lot like Fallout, which was a great game, but that's exactly the problem. They're offering the best gameplay 2015 has to offer, but Fallout was better.
For being a space game, you don't actually do anything in space. You just get cutscenes going from one planet to another. Then you're back on the ground again just like the last area, only this time it's snow planet, or crystal planet, or whatever. It kind of all feels the same.
When you're on the ship, it's filled with things like hanging potted plants which would be perfect for a home base but have no business being in a spaceship. This pretty much sums up the game. There are a lot of stylish ideas which are so stylized that they don't work and just don't fit together at all.
There's nothing really wrong with it, but it got old fast. It's just a game that fails to reach it's potential. Most mid game I have ever played.
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Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
bakers_dozen Link ParentThat's a really good point, and I'm glad you brought it up. I've been thinking about it, what do you think is the real risk? Identity theft on a large scale, e.g. harvesting mass info about users?...That's a really good point, and I'm glad you brought it up.
I've been thinking about it, what do you think is the real risk? Identity theft on a large scale, e.g. harvesting mass info about users? The cynical side of me feels like that battle is sort of already lost, at least in the big cultural picture. The technology is inevitable.
The developers should sanitize input so that private information is hashed, not stored, or just completely ruled out from being stored at all.
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Starter comments on Tildes?
I get a lot out of browsing Tildes and all the conversations here. This is in keeping with the Tildes philosophy of high-quality content and conversation. In the spirit of quality discussion,...
I get a lot out of browsing Tildes and all the conversations here. This is in keeping with the Tildes philosophy of high-quality content and conversation.
In the spirit of quality discussion, context is everything and reference points matter. I have found my own thoughts nudged many times here, and often the comments and points of view lend entirely new perspective to the content (and are sometimes more interesting).
While I appreciate the discussions, there are often links to an article, a video, a blog, or anything really, with no context and little description.
So in the spirit of conversation, I'm asking if there could be "conversation starter" comments for posted links. I'd like to know why this video or that blog is different from just randomly finding some link online. Why is this link on Tildes? What makes it interesting or important? What are we talking about? Where is the quality conversation?
Is that too much, or would that be reasonable? Thoughts?
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Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
bakers_dozen (edited )Link ParentGreed, apathy, neglect, take your pick. The endless maze of bureaucracy is profitable, even if (or maybe because) it leads to double-billing and other issues. It's all built deliberately towards...Greed, apathy, neglect, take your pick. The endless maze of bureaucracy is profitable, even if (or maybe because) it leads to double-billing and other issues. It's all built deliberately towards revenue - at the expense of oversight, because oversight costs money. Accountability costs money. Stalling and delays make money, if the errors are in the hospital's favor.
In some areas, patients have nowhere to go except the local small hospital or urgent care, which just adds to the industry leverage of consolidation, vertical integration and monopolization. Those are bigger issues in the US, but the main issue IMO is treating healthcare as a for-profit business. I feel like morally, to your point, it is essentially extortion or profiteering since your choices are to pay or to die. Or both.
It's incredibly dark, but that is literally exactly what happens.
Edited to add: I wonder why AI is becoming such a big thing in healthcare now, yet despite that, issues like this continue to happen. I don't think double billing is patient-centered care, but maybe I don't have that healthcare=profit mindset.
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Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
bakers_dozen (edited )LinkDespite the cultural upheaval over LLMs, it's great to see Claude being put to good use for advocacy. I look at LLMS as an accessibility tool, making arcane systems more available to even the...Despite the cultural upheaval over LLMs, it's great to see Claude being put to good use for advocacy. I look at LLMS as an accessibility tool, making arcane systems more available to even the least technical among us. This is a wonderful use case for AI.
US healthcare is a predatory, impenetrable, bureaucratic mess that oppresses those who need it. Hopefully the future holds greater equality and support for those most vulnerable.
Original story on Threads.
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Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations
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Comment on This site is fast in ~tildes
bakers_dozen (edited )Link ParentThat makes sense and I appreciate you taking the time to make a thoughtful reply. I saw your recent post on "queer temperature check," I didn't respond because I'm not in the club, so to speak....That makes sense and I appreciate you taking the time to make a thoughtful reply. I saw your recent post on "queer temperature check," I didn't respond because I'm not in the club, so to speak. But, I appreciated a lot of the points there and thoughtful responses. A lot resonated with me and it was interesting to see the different personal journeys unfold in conversation. Which is how I personally often read Tildes. I like your long form posts.
I've actually had you tagged as a "friend" for some time for that reason. But what you say here also makes sense and it spurs a little bit of reflection for me.
The thing is, this post was actually engaging, interesting and true, and made sense to me in every way. It was spot on. I have been on forums like this since the 20th century, and you hit the nail on the head.
But to your point - clipped and abrupt sentences, to me, can be (not always, but something to watch for) hallmarks of artificial content when it is written to generate engagement.
They create tension.
Suspense.
Anticipation.
... but then... (see the suspense?) there's an exciting payoff, with swooping writing, rising and falling, in a new direction! The style changes, the rhythm and tone change, settling down into a good feeling of resolution.
And it. Feels. Great!
Just off the top of my head, not written to be a stellar example, and definitely not black-and-white in terms of discernment. This is just a tiny bit of something that would make me think of artificial writing, because it's intentionally written specifically to grab the reader. This style is very different from a normal dialogue with a person, with pauses, interjections, incomplete sentences, unanswered questions, unwanted or uninteresting asides, rambling and long-winded sentences, and all the messy things that make up human conversation. See how this long comment is boring?
That's not the only factor, and not the only thing about this post. But just one of the things that typically makes writing feel a certain way, to me. EM dashes don't necessarily mean artificial writing, either, but they stand out. Not an indictment of you.
But your response here makes me think again. My comment was abrupt and not meant to be rude or judgemental. I could have put more thought and grace into it, and I appreciate what you said.
To be honest, it was a lot like you pointed out - I just had this odd feeling and just put that feeling out there without thinking about it.
But there are a lot of things that concern me about artificial writing, including the feedback loop that occurs when we read it, and it in turn influences our own writing styles (and we don't even know it if we aren't aware). That makes these things harder to tell apart, and what's more troubling, language influences the way we think. All language, all conversation. Now ChatGPT is embedded in public discourse, and thereby affecting our mental processes, whether we like it or not. It is bound to shape the future of human thinking - under the direction of it's owners, in whatever case - because it is already pervasive. We are already there.
This occurred to me here because of what you pointed out, you were writing more or less a stream of consciousness. Completely fair and not an indictment of you at all. Just has me thinking more about this influence and feedback loop on all of our writing and conversations (and my own discernment in such cases).
This is also more or less just stream of consciousness, but I appreciate your posts here and look forward to seeing more.
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Comment on This site is fast in ~tildes
bakers_dozen (edited )Link ParentWell the thing is, this isn't a judgement or an accusation. kfwyre is pretty clearly a real person with a lot to say and I value what they have to say and have followed their comments before. I...Well the thing is, this isn't a judgement or an accusation. kfwyre is pretty clearly a real person with a lot to say and I value what they have to say and have followed their comments before. I think everyone reading this post is likely aware of that.
But, that's the exact reason I commented. The post feels off, it feels unusual. Now maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just becoming too cynical with the glut of LLM in social media. Which is also why this post reads exactly like that, to me, because a lot of LLM reads exactly this way (again, to me) .
There's no malice here but rather making an observation. I don't think kfwyre is some kind of spam bot.
But it doesn't feel completely genuine, and maybe that is just the writing style, but I do find it a little disheartening to see other comments making such assumptions about judgement and nobody actually seeking to understand. If I were a writer, I would certainly want to know.
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Comment on This site is fast in ~tildes
bakers_dozen LinkThis reads like ChatGPT.This reads like ChatGPT.
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Comment on ‘Tron: Ares’ stumbles with $33.5 million debut in ~movies
bakers_dozen Link ParentRein in = pulling the reins on a galloping horse, slowing down, getting control. Reign = rule, as in, a king reigns over a country.Rein in = pulling the reins on a galloping horse, slowing down, getting control.
Reign = rule, as in, a king reigns over a country. -
Comment on Timeout when connecting to a local webserver through the internet, but only on WiFi in ~comp
bakers_dozen (edited )Link**EDIT: ** I just noticed this comment in your post, and from here this sounds like DNS issues. My original reply is underneath. Opening https://192.168.1.123:58443 (webserver address) is fine...**EDIT: ** I just noticed this comment in your post, and from here this sounds like DNS issues. My original reply is underneath.
Opening https://192.168.1.123:58443 (webserver address) is fine (WiFi or wired).
Opening https://10.0.1.123:58443 (gateway address) is fine (WiFi or wired).Original reply:
From your updated comments (cited below) it sounds suspiciously like a NAT or port forwarding issue. Or something similar to asymmetric routing issues. Some of your packets are getting through and some aren't.Using the mobile network I can access my server just fine. With a hotspot I can use the same laptop to access the site.
I've given up and have just added a DNS record to the gateway that points to the local server. This way it works inside the network and outside too. It's not pretty, but it works.
The same issue is also happening with the VPN server I host on a different machine that's sitting besides the webserver. I see traffic coming in, but no connection is established on the client side.
Testing this again now, I see the traffic coming into the VPN server takes forever when on WiFi (haven't checked with a wire). When I'm on mobile, the logging of the VPN server shows instant negotiation. I assumed the issue was something with the return traffic, but that's not the case. Something to look into later.So my rambling thoughts - when you query dns for your server name (or VPN) do you get the same results on wired and wireless? Different results inside the network vs outside? Because typically, outside and inside DNS results should be separate, and different. If you're trying to reach http://foo.bar and it turns up both an internal and external (NAT) address then you're going to get mixed up. Also you don't want servers overlapping, I assume your servers are all using the same (public) IP and this is why you are using nonstandard ports to differentiate servers?
Your wireless DNS resolution should be identical to your wired DNS (both internal). Also DNS queries are round-robin, meaning, if you have two different DNS server addresses you query, you will variously get results from both. If those servers aren't returning the same answer you will have issues.
On the same lines, is the behavior any different if you only connect to ip_address:port and don't use DNS at all?
For further testing I would recommend disconnecting your internet and make sure all of your traffic is routable internally (wired and wireless both) . Can you hit the VPN or the web server?
With NAT, the nonstandard TCP port (internal) may be getting forwarded out to the internet rather than to internal devices. With your setup I would ensure ALL internal traffic is routed internally first and never go out to the carrier unless that specific traffic needs to get to the internet for some reason.
It really sounds like when you're on wireless, some of your traffic is going out to the internet and coming back in, and some of your traffic is trying to hit the server internally, and all of your devices are getting confused.
Try disconnecting your internet service and see if you can reach everything internally.
If you aren't already set up this way I would consider doing this: (Carrier) <-> (dedicated firewall) <-> (dedicated internal router) == (everything else internal)
Rather than having an all-in-one device to handle all the routing and firewall and wireless etc. Your network is complex enough to justify the separation and this would make it much easier to troubleshoot. In other words, keep the internet traffic routed to a separate dedicated device outside of your internal network. And aside from that, all your traffic should be perfectly routable inside. Your internal router should handle all DNS, DHCP and everything else, and anything that specifically needs internet access (like DNS) should be owned and cached on the router but handed off to the firewall if needed.
One last consideration I would recommend to anyone for internal networking. Consider setting up your internal IP range as 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 instead of 192.168 or **10.x ** . The reason is because everyone uses 10.x or 192.168, and using differentiation makes it much easier to deflect any potential overlap. Network devices sometimes use 192.168 as the default setup for configuring via network. If that default IP happens to be the same as one of your servers, it's a pain to set it up. But setting up 172.16 right from the get go will preempt overlapping issues. It isn't nearly as popular.
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Comment on Timeout when connecting to a local webserver through the internet, but only on WiFi in ~comp
bakers_dozen LinkSince you say the SSL handshake is completed, my first guess is to look at some kind of filtering or interception occurring on your laptop. Some troubleshooting questions - are you able to reach...Since you say the SSL handshake is completed, my first guess is to look at some kind of filtering or interception occurring on your laptop.
Some troubleshooting questions - are you able to reach other servers or websites on the internet? Including nonstandard ports? Ping?
When you're on wired networking are you sure your traffic is hairpinning out to the internet and back in to your server? Are you sure you aren't just routing internally?
Is anyone else able to reach your server across the internet?
To me this is a big tell for artificial writing, which is unfortunately getting harder to spot. It's not just the use of em dashes, or framing such as "it's not x, but y." Some LLM writing will use colloquial slang or typos, although if you read carefully you can see the slang used in the wrong way, or the same exact typo repeated three or four times. Fortunately, AI "writers" aren't careful enough to read their own writing, so giveaways like that can be easy to spot.
But it does smell like bullshit, and after a lifetime of experiencing spam, product placement and advertising everywhere, it feels incredibly manipulative. In my view, even the most engaging content loses it's interest and becomes repulsive if it's written in bad faith. Of course this doesn't just apply to LLM writing, but it accounts for a lot of crap you already see in media, and the current state of affairs has been a long time coming.
Artificial writing has no soul. It can have character, it can be engaging, it can be interesting, clever, or fun, but it can't be real. That's the problem with some made-up stories, and currently what I feel is a tell, which is that when you think about these stories in three dimensions over the passage of time, you realize that real people don't behave like that.
But I feel like the biggest giveaway is basically how I feel when I'm reading it. If I feel excited, engaged and interested, or perhaps placated, comfortable, and validated, then I have second thoughts and I look again. Manipulative media behaves that way - it makes you feel good about yourself, it makes you want to keep watching, and makes you feel comfortable. It's made for engagement. I'm fine with that when it's on my own terms, but not when it's driven by some hidden agenda.
Maybe it's ironic that I feel the most comfortable with content that makes me less comfortable. But I'd rather have something real than be complacent.
To your comment, what kind of writing do you do and how does LLM writing show up in your world?