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Ask HN: Worrying flood of delusional AI consciousness posts?

3 points by gavinray ↗ HN
I've noticed an unsettling trend in the past weeks.

There appear to be a growing number of posts by persons suffering what appear to be psychosis or a manic episode, generally revolving around nonsensical "math" and AI consciousness.

Some examples:

- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=Trenthug

- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=NetRunnerSu

- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=kamil_gr

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44421649

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44392181

I'm unsure of what the right response to this is, but it's concerning to say the least.

6 comments

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pvg
You should mail such concerns to site admins at hn@ycombinator.com if you feel someone is misusing the site.
codingdave
Ignore and move on. People post all kinds of stuff here. Some is interesting, some is not. I likewise see people showing a plethora of signs of various neurodivergences and disorders, but that doesn't change my reaction to their writing. Their writing is either interesting, and I engage with it, or it is nonsense, and I do not.

I rarely see anyone who is so off the rails that they appear to be in danger. HN as an outlet for their thoughts could even be therapeutic. So while I might not personally engage with it, I don't see that gatekeeping HN from such people or their writing would be a net good.

incomingpain
Don't believe what you read on the internet! -Abraham Lincoln.
JohnFen
> I'm unsure of what the right response to this is

I think ignoring them is the best response.