Enabling more people to solve more problems is a great benefit to everyone, even people who don't like AI. I'm using AI to solve problems for me, and I hope more people continue this trend.
This is exactly the type of niche service that modern technology enables. Without that tech (3D printing, the internet, AI) things like this are simply more likely to just not exist because it would be impossible to make the economics work.
This dude invented not one but multiple dog health care products ... with no animal product design background whatsoever! Then (with no business background) he started an entire company helping hundreds of dogs all over the world.
Maybe instead of expecting everyone to be good at everything, we cut this guy a little slack and let him use AI to help write?
The AI didnt help him write. The AI wrote very annoying prose. Seemingly everyone was completely capable of writing long winded comments, rants, and rambles before AI. They can do it after too just fine.
But, did AI actually _help_ in this specific phrase? I think it's OK to point out the quirks (and even drawbacks) of AI, even if we generally support the underlying motions of the person using it.
I wish we could put the paw-litics aside and not be so snoot-y about the AI writing and focus on the awesomeness of this idea. Honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see it in re-tail. You’re barking up the right tree and I wish you success and a lot of kibble money.
Unnecessary comment. It is really heartwarming to see an individual do something in his spare time that helps 100s of being that can't speak for themselves.
If nobody complains, nothing changes. At the very least Claude's output should have been edited and improved, but it reads like it was mostly copy-paste.
I dislike one-shot LLM prose as much as the next person, but there's no chance this use case ever goes away. Writing is difficult and takes a long time. Using an LLM to write for you gets your message across with the least effort. It's here to stay. Our only hope is that the models simply start writing better.
It gets a lot less difficult when you don't outsource it to a chat bot at every opportunity. Communication matters. If you do it badly because you let a bot that can't write do it all for you people should complain. The fact that lots of people will do it doesn't mean that readers should lower their standards.
I'm never going to complain about people using AI to write their private documents, but if someone publishes something, explicitly for others to read, and what they published is annoying to read and that wasn't the goal of the "writer" they should probably know about it. Even if they never check the comments, those of us who were made to read that slop can commiserate with each other.
Sure, it's here to stay. But the least effort solution is often not the best one. I would also argue it gets the point across with the least effort on the writer's part, but the most on the reader's. LLM prose is not easy to read and often not interesting because we're all used to slop. And I like a little human touch. I don't know if LLMs will ever be able to replace the individual human style differences.
The critics never point this out though. They typically just find the first AI smell then proudly announce to everyone that they didn’t finish the article. It’s the new HN meta for securing upvotes with low effort.
I do generally agree though that the author should edit or rewrite completely the AI output since he clearly put a lot of effort into the thing he made itself.
> The critics never point this out though. They typically just find the first AI smell then proudly announce to everyone that they didn’t finish the article.
I mean, I'm the "critic" that started this thread and my comment doesn't say that, so what exactly is your problem? If it were poor writing for any other reason would you have the same kneejerk defensive reaction that you have about poor AI writing?
Personally, comments like this are against the guidelines. Please either downvote and move on, or comment about the parts that are interesting and substantive.
> Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.
> Find something interesting to respond to instead.
> Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—e.g. article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting.
I find it so much more annoying when it's on something that should be genuinely interesting - I just can't read this even though I do actually want to.
Pun notwithstanding, what a fun itch to scratch! A clever single-user solution becomes it's own industry. I'd love to repeat this sort of growth myself, and find such clever solutions to real world problems.
It’s pretty easy to figure out what DLE was about from the context clues in the article. Knowing that it means discoid lupus erythematosus and the detailed definition wouldn’t have added much imo. In fact I didn’t even care to look it up until I read your comment.
if you're referring to DLE, from the second paragraph:
> When she was diagnosed with DLE, discoid lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the skin on the nose and sunlight makes it worse
edit: ah, just saw a comment from the author indicating they added that post-hoc
The idea is good and cute (the AI writing is a slog to read though). But I wince a bit at seeing a pit with something looking like a mouth guard at a glance, as if they're not scary enough already.
DLE, I had never heard of it. Something like lupus and it needs protection from the sun. One smart guy to come up with a simple solution.. Very good use of 3D printer.
Author here. Thanks everyone for being mean, I mean that in the best way :)
Fair points. I’m a designer, not a writer, so I used an LLM to help write it. The story and the dogs are real. After reading the comments I removed the parts that felt off and defined DLE (discoid lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune skin condition made worse by sun).
My dog Billie has it, and that’s what started all this. I made the cover for her, shared it free, and it grew from there.
Ai article or not. Today I decided to look at the good side of life. Product solves a niche problem. Thumbs up.
Enabling more people to solve more problems is a great benefit to everyone, even people who don't like AI. I'm using AI to solve problems for me, and I hope more people continue this trend.
This is exactly the type of niche service that modern technology enables. Without that tech (3D printing, the internet, AI) things like this are simply more likely to just not exist because it would be impossible to make the economics work.
This is a net gain all around.
> I want to be honest about what happened next, because it matters
I like the project but using Claude sure didn't improve this article.
This dude invented not one but multiple dog health care products ... with no animal product design background whatsoever! Then (with no business background) he started an entire company helping hundreds of dogs all over the world.
Maybe instead of expecting everyone to be good at everything, we cut this guy a little slack and let him use AI to help write?
I think it's possible to give someone their flowers for being a great innovator and also call them out for producing writing that's painful to read.
I didnt find it painful
The AI didnt help him write. The AI wrote very annoying prose. Seemingly everyone was completely capable of writing long winded comments, rants, and rambles before AI. They can do it after too just fine.
Absolutely.
But, did AI actually _help_ in this specific phrase? I think it's OK to point out the quirks (and even drawbacks) of AI, even if we generally support the underlying motions of the person using it.
no one's preventing him from using it, we're pointing out flaws with the tool in an effort to get people to improve
I wish we could put the paw-litics aside and not be so snoot-y about the AI writing and focus on the awesomeness of this idea. Honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see it in re-tail. You’re barking up the right tree and I wish you success and a lot of kibble money.
Thank you for a great comment
Unnecessary comment. It is really heartwarming to see an individual do something in his spare time that helps 100s of being that can't speak for themselves.
Are y'all gonna register a complaint for each and every instance of an LLM written or enhanced article anywhere?
It's mainstreamed. Spare the rest of us.
If nobody complains, nothing changes. At the very least Claude's output should have been edited and improved, but it reads like it was mostly copy-paste.
I dislike one-shot LLM prose as much as the next person, but there's no chance this use case ever goes away. Writing is difficult and takes a long time. Using an LLM to write for you gets your message across with the least effort. It's here to stay. Our only hope is that the models simply start writing better.
> Writing is difficult and takes a long time.
It gets a lot less difficult when you don't outsource it to a chat bot at every opportunity. Communication matters. If you do it badly because you let a bot that can't write do it all for you people should complain. The fact that lots of people will do it doesn't mean that readers should lower their standards.
I'm never going to complain about people using AI to write their private documents, but if someone publishes something, explicitly for others to read, and what they published is annoying to read and that wasn't the goal of the "writer" they should probably know about it. Even if they never check the comments, those of us who were made to read that slop can commiserate with each other.
Sure, it's here to stay. But the least effort solution is often not the best one. I would also argue it gets the point across with the least effort on the writer's part, but the most on the reader's. LLM prose is not easy to read and often not interesting because we're all used to slop. And I like a little human touch. I don't know if LLMs will ever be able to replace the individual human style differences.
I could 3d print you a butt guard for your hurt, dawg.
I think calling out AI is pretty 'mainstreamed' at this point, if that's our criteria.
lazy writing is always valid ground for criticism…
It's kind of insulting. Like they didn't take the time to write it but expect me to spend time reading it.
s/enhanced/diminished ... because it matters
We've got to shame this shit until it stops. LLMs are great; don't use them to write for you. Especially not in the first fucking person.
How do those boots taste?
Yes!
It’s the lack of effort to make the AI write better that bothers me.
Exactly, there's nothing stopping someone from reading what it puts out and going "what? That doesn't belong there" and cleaning it up a little.
The critics never point this out though. They typically just find the first AI smell then proudly announce to everyone that they didn’t finish the article. It’s the new HN meta for securing upvotes with low effort.
I do generally agree though that the author should edit or rewrite completely the AI output since he clearly put a lot of effort into the thing he made itself.
Exactly, the whole discussion is about this guy's AI slop instead of what he did. It's ridiculous. On the other hand, it's kind of expected by now.
> The critics never point this out though. They typically just find the first AI smell then proudly announce to everyone that they didn’t finish the article.
I mean, I'm the "critic" that started this thread and my comment doesn't say that, so what exactly is your problem? If it were poor writing for any other reason would you have the same kneejerk defensive reaction that you have about poor AI writing?
Personally, comments like this are against the guidelines. Please either downvote and move on, or comment about the parts that are interesting and substantive.
> Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.
> Find something interesting to respond to instead.
> Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—e.g. article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting.
> Omit internet tropes.
I find it so much more annoying when it's on something that should be genuinely interesting - I just can't read this even though I do actually want to.
Yeah, it's every paragraph.
I'm OK with this, let's start by shitting on 100% Ai slop products and slop products with bad intentions first
You don’t know that. He could be a terrible writer.
"The free Shield, rebuilt"
“That somebody opens it, and what they open matters.”
Also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46094460 from 11 months ago.
I would be concerned about the lead in 3d prints. They are not food safe.
Pun notwithstanding, what a fun itch to scratch! A clever single-user solution becomes it's own industry. I'd love to repeat this sort of growth myself, and find such clever solutions to real world problems.
Canine discoid lupus erythematosus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_discoid_lupus_erythemat...
My dog has no nose. How does it smell? Awful.
My dog has a very smelly nose!
I love writing that uses acronyms and never defines them.
It’s pretty easy to figure out what DLE was about from the context clues in the article. Knowing that it means discoid lupus erythematosus and the detailed definition wouldn’t have added much imo. In fact I didn’t even care to look it up until I read your comment.
if you're referring to DLE, from the second paragraph:
> When she was diagnosed with DLE, discoid lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the skin on the nose and sunlight makes it worse
edit: ah, just saw a comment from the author indicating they added that post-hoc
Sounds like someone just needs to spend more time keeping up with rare canine autoimmune disorders
The idea is good and cute (the AI writing is a slog to read though). But I wince a bit at seeing a pit with something looking like a mouth guard at a glance, as if they're not scary enough already.
We rarely use a muzzle for our shepherd but the ironic part is people keep extra distance because it looks so menacing.
I think there will be a market for video game styles armour for dogs
DLE, I had never heard of it. Something like lupus and it needs protection from the sun. One smart guy to come up with a simple solution.. Very good use of 3D printer.
Hmmm, something made to sit in direct sunlight shouldn’t be black or very dark.
Like dog noses?
Rage clickbait for dog owners
Did they really have to sensor the photos of a few stitches on a snout ?
Like, why ?
[delayed]
Author here. Thanks everyone for being mean, I mean that in the best way :)
Fair points. I’m a designer, not a writer, so I used an LLM to help write it. The story and the dogs are real. After reading the comments I removed the parts that felt off and defined DLE (discoid lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune skin condition made worse by sun).
My dog Billie has it, and that’s what started all this. I made the cover for her, shared it free, and it grew from there.
FWIW, the headings are still very Claude-speak, and it's somehow more off-putting to read Claude writing in 1st person than in its usual persona