this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2026
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Based on recent comments this feels like a discussion we should have. So..topic, basically.

I'm not looking to be chief noisemaker on this, but I stand by what I wrote in !privacy and what's in my post history.

https://lemmy.ml/post/48724623/26190950

Let's have at; do we want a [AI] and [NOT AI] tag. Why or why not?

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[–] replicat@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I think this is a major over generalisation that misses the main point of why people don't want AI projects. The real questions are:

  • Is this slop?
  • Does a human understand all of this code?
  • Did a human design this deliberately or is it completely derivative and uninspired?
  • Will a human take responsibility for bugs that come up?
  • Did a human write the docs?
  • Will this be maintained or just a weekend project with no substance?
  • Does this actually serve a purpose?

Idk how to address these things really. I could see the AI tag going both ways, but I do think it's painting with too broad a brush.

[–] pyr0ball@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I'm in the process of launching a new business as a single dev, and I want to be upfront about my use of AI, but I notice as soon as I mention any LLM, most people assume what I've built is "vibe coded" without even looking at the applications themselves.

I spent almost two months just setting up the devops side of things before I even considered publishing. Feedback buttons in the apps automatically open issues on my Forgejo, push mirrors to GitHub and Codeberg, and I do weekly progress reports internally (I stopped posting to Lemmy after people felt spammed and now I just post on the site blog)

I'm just not sure how to make it easy to tell that I'm actually putting my heart and soul into building software that should help people.

If curious: https://circuitforge.tech/

[–] replicat@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I looked at your site. Realistically I think we're talking about two different things here. There are tools which were programmed with the assistance of AI and then there are AI powered tools. Your stuff is clearly the latter.

I think ai powered tools are a lot harder to sell people on right now. The ai powered area is where I see by far the most shovelware/slop.

To be blunt, when I see a new ai powered tool I assume several things:

  • This is low effort slop
  • A tech bro vibe coded this 100%
  • No one cares about this
  • It will either make a ton of money or be abandoned next week
  • If it's popular, anthropic will buy/clone it and everyone will use their version instead

I know this isn't true of every ai powered app but it's true of 99% of them right now. I really have no idea how you could convince people yours isnt slop.

One idea might be to stop using the term "AI". It's a buzzword with strong connotations. Some people hear it and think "gold rush", some people think "slop" or "data center".

Personally I would be a lot more likely to take a project seriously if they used the term "LLM" or "machine learning" to describe what powers the product.

Also, I don't see anything that looks like obvious AI art to me but DONT USE AI ART. AI art is already terrible on its own but when I see AI art mixed with AI text telling me about an AI powered app I'm 1000% done giving my attention.

[–] pyr0ball@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

For sure on the art. I'm a graphic artist by education and I'm already working with another full-time artist on the application logos. When I make enough I'm planning to hire a proper web developer for the frontend/web design as that's onc area I do lean pretty heavy on the LLM's for assistance.

Funny you should mention the AI vs LLM labeling as I much prefer to call them LLM's or "models", but I'm trying to keep it accessible for non-technical people. I think I'll go back through and rename though.

Also most of the tools are deterministic, with the LLM's filling in gaps where there needs to be some amount of probabilistic interaction, like figuring out what you could cook given only the ingredients in your pantry, or rewriting a resume 26 million ways to satisfy the ATS filters.

If you don't want to use those features, nothing forcing you. They're useful for tracking and organizing without the LLM at all.

[–] replicat@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah.. Normies for sure don't use the term "LLM". I don't think it would scare them though. They're used to being confused 💀

When I see "AI" I think "tech bro hype" whereas "LLM" makes me think the developer is more likely to have a realistic view of the technology.

I guess this depends a lot on your target demo. But but even just cutting down on usage of the exact term "AI" would help I think. Basically anything is better.

[–] pyr0ball@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

Much participated on the advice!