iout's recent activity

  1. Comment on From Zero to Nix in ~comp

    iout
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    I really like the concept of Nix but unfortunately my experience using it wasn't the best. I've installed the Nix package manager in my Debian 11 and used it to install libreoffice. I've found...

    I really like the concept of Nix but unfortunately my experience using it wasn't the best.

    I've installed the Nix package manager in my Debian 11 and used it to install libreoffice. I've found that many of the icons and visual elements seemed off. I'm using a HiDPI display so I know I should've tried to configure libreoffice to fit the display properties, but at the time I didn't bother.

    I've also tried to install kodi, which is a problematic package even if installed from the Debian official repos due to some of the libraries it needs to function properly, and again it was a bit glitchy.

    I've had more success with flatpak (which I've used to install kodi and it works fairly well) so I'm sticking with it for now. I must admit that I haven't looked properly into nix and its functional language, which seems to be great in principle, but I don't feel motivated to dive into it yet.

    I've also read that graphics drivers cannot be properly packaged using the purely functional approach of Nix.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on What do you think about how women are depicted in "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe? in ~books

    iout
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    It happened to me almost exactly in the same part of the book, around the botanical gardens and the subsequent duel bit. I've heard the series being praised for a long time, on Reddit and...

    It happened to me almost exactly in the same part of the book, around the botanical gardens and the subsequent duel bit. I've heard the series being praised for a long time, on Reddit and elsewhere, and even found a great hardcover edition from Folio Society, which I almost bought. Luckily I didn't.

    Some passages reminded me of things I've read in r/menwritingwomen. Couldn't finish it.

    8 votes

  3. Comment on Could we get a ~jokes, ~humor or ~funny group on Tildes? in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I'm new here but I've also noticed that kind of trend recently. I've been reading through Tildes docs again recently and since then I've been motivated to help "sculpt" the threads. Deimos set up...

    I'm new here but I've also noticed that kind of trend recently.

    I've been reading through Tildes docs again recently and since then I've been motivated to help "sculpt" the threads. Deimos set up a really great system for rewarding good content and penalize lazy contributions, which is done through the use of labels. This system is a bit of a departure from the Reddit's approach and I believe it can be a bit overwhelming for users that came here from there recently. Adding to this, the great majority of users are lurkers and may not feel compelled to contribute to the "sculpting" processes other than voting.

    I'm convinced that if people make regular use of the labelling system, the post threads will be adequately organized, with the noise/joke comments being pushed down.

    This is just a bit of rambling, but I wanted to show my appreciation for the labelling system. I hope new users take the time to read the docs and feel encouraged to make use of the system, even if they're usually lurkers.

    19 votes

  4. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    Undoubtedly your life experience is amazing and I'm sure you're able to make great contributions to the discussions here on Tildes. I understand that people posting on Tildes might have...

    Undoubtedly your life experience is amazing and I'm sure you're able to make great contributions to the discussions here on Tildes.

    I understand that people posting on Tildes might have significant education/experience, however because of the kind of posts that are common here, people might use LLMs to aid in the more tedious tasks of their research. My main concern is that people might not be fully aware of the AI's influence on their work and might even change their opinion regarding a complex subject without fully noticing it, as I've said before.

  5. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I do agree with you and I'm sorry I wasn't able to communicate my concerns regarding the use of AI. I love well written, well thought out posts/comments and I too was truly delighted with the...

    I do agree with you and I'm sorry I wasn't able to communicate my concerns regarding the use of AI. I love well written, well thought out posts/comments and I too was truly delighted with the level of care Tildes users put into their contributions.

    My concern is not related to the form of the text, but rather with the content. As I've elsewhere in this post, what I've found strange was the variety and depth of the content being published in such short periods of time. I've also said in a couple of other comments that what worries me is that the user that delegates the more tedious tasks to AI might not be aware of the full extent of the AI's influence in their final work/post/comment.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I agree with you that the LLMs are not required to post high quality content and that the kind of people forums like Tildes attract are people who are deeply curious and like to deep dive into...

    I agree with you that the LLMs are not required to post high quality content and that the kind of people forums like Tildes attract are people who are deeply curious and like to deep dive into complex subjects.

    My main concern, and the reason I've made this post, is that with the access to LLMs some of the more tedious tasks of research can be delegated to AI, however it has been observed (please see the study I've cited in the post) that AI's contribution to our content can be significantly biased and my fear is that the people who use it might not notice the true extent of this influence, ending up changing their original opinion.

  7. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I've answered a similar question, please see this comment.

    I've answered a similar question, please see this comment.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I was actually referring to high quality content created with the aid of AI. The only significant problem I see with all this is possibility of the person's opinion/input being diluted in the text...

    I was actually referring to high quality content created with the aid of AI. The only significant problem I see with all this is possibility of the person's opinion/input being diluted in the text created with AI (as the study I've cited in the this hints to). The line between to the person's own voice and the AI's input might become dangerously blurred.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I understand that my view is indeed very bleak. However, I do love long and well researched posts, and I agree with you that Tildes almost feels like a refuge from the low effort, short and "made...

    I understand that my view is indeed very bleak. However, I do love long and well researched posts, and I agree with you that Tildes almost feels like a refuge from the low effort, short and "made for shock value" content found almost everywhere else.

    I feel that Tildes users share this investigative side (which I believe you're referring to as well), myself included, that is fundamental for the kind of content found here.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I understand this is sensitive topic, and I definitely don't want to raise undue suspicion. Me, being a new user, was just trying to understand Tildes community position on this matter. I...

    I understand this is sensitive topic, and I definitely don't want to raise undue suspicion. Me, being a new user, was just trying to understand Tildes community position on this matter. I specifically didn't want any particular user to be the focus of the post since my intention was to discuss the issue of the use of AI, not accuse any particular person. I've just mention some of my experience as a reader of Tildes to, somehow, explain where this idea came from.

    Personally, I don't love the idea of using GPT to help me write my posts/comments, however I do not consider it to be inherently bad or good.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    @skybrian is definitely an amazing contributor, but I would not think that they in particular would use AI. But as you said, I'm beginning to realize Tildes appeals to an older, more...

    @skybrian is definitely an amazing contributor, but I would not think that they in particular would use AI. But as you said, I'm beginning to realize Tildes appeals to an older, more knowledgeable, audience and for me that's one of the strongest points of Tildes. Here we're able to have a great sample of opinions from younger people (as myself) to much older and wiser people, which I find to be quite rare online.

    26 votes

  12. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I hope you're right. I just have this romantic idea that forums like Tildes can be these great town squares were people can share their personal points of view and learn from each other. As a...

    I hope you're right. I just have this romantic idea that forums like Tildes can be these great town squares were people can share their personal points of view and learn from each other. As a recent paper hints to, this might be compromised when using GPT models.

    5 votes

  13. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    I prefer not to out any particular user. The language seems organic enough, the only thing that led me to think of this possibility was the fact that some users go into great detail on some issue...

    I prefer not to out any particular user.

    The language seems organic enough, the only thing that led me to think of this possibility was the fact that some users go into great detail on some issue related to economics. A few minutes later, they give an insightful explanation on how some complex physics phenomenon works. And again later they do a deep dive into to the history of an obscure event. It just amazes me how a significant portion of Tildes users have such a profound knowledge of such a huge array of topics.

    21 votes

  14. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    Sorry, not a native speaker.

    Sorry, not a native speaker.

    2 votes

  15. Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes

    ~tildes Ask
    I've recently noticed that some particular users, who post/comment quite often, frequently contribute with high quality content across an impressive spectrum of themes. These posts/comments...

    I've recently noticed that some particular users, who post/comment quite often, frequently contribute with high quality content across an impressive spectrum of themes. These posts/comments usually go into great detail, an approach suitable of a "semi-expert", that honestly baffles me.

    This lead me to think that Tildes users might be using AI language models to aid in the writing of their posts/comments. This possibility is quite disheartening since I found Tildes to be an extraordinarily engaging community, with a distinct human element that I haven't seen in other bigger forums. The possibility of a significant portion of Tildes content being generated by AI makes this sentiment a mere illusion.

    So here are my questions:

    1. Is there any reasonable way of determining which posts were written with the aid of AI?
    2. Is the Tildes community okay with the content being generated partly, or entirely, by AI?

    Please forgive me if I'm being a cynic, I've spent too much time in forums with significantly lower quality content than Tildes.

    Edit 1: Just wanted to cite this paper to somehow justify my uneasiness when it comes to writing texts with AI in command. As I've commented below, LLMs might get in the way of learning the person's true idea/opinion.

    Edit 2: As I've said in the comments below, I had no intention of accusing any particular user with this post. Clearly, I've failed to convey my intent so I'll try to clarify my original idea a bit more:

    Because I'm new to Tildes and haven't got any other forum experience besides Reddit, I was amazed with how much and how fast some users post extremely high quality content, since this was certainly not the norm in Reddit. As with many other online platforms, spammers armed with AI can be a difficult problem to deal with, so I've made this post with the intent of starting a discussion about this matter and to understand the Tildes community stance. My relatively negative view of the use of AI is due in part to my experience with such spammers in the past. Forgive me if I've assumed the worst...

    From the little time I've spent in Tildes, I'm quite sure the community grew to know each other and I'm hopeful that my post will not cause undue witch hunts. And I've also learned that because people got to know each user's stylistic voice, it's fairly easy to spot a possible AI spammer.

    Thank you for the insightful discussion so far !

    62 votes

  16. Comment on New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here! in ~tildes

    iout
    Link Parent
    Thank you ! I’ll try and get around it with Shortcuts

    Thank you ! I’ll try and get around it with Shortcuts

    3 votes

  17. Comment on New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here! in ~tildes

    iout
    Link
    I love the mobile site but I’m frustrated with the amount of opened Tildes tabs. I’m using a “Add to Home screen” shortcut in iOS and I’ve unticked the “open in new tab” options for my Tildes...

    I love the mobile site but I’m frustrated with the amount of opened Tildes tabs. I’m using a “Add to Home screen” shortcut in iOS and I’ve unticked the “open in new tab” options for my Tildes account. Is there any way to have safari open Tildes in the same tab?

    2 votes