Not doubting you, but what possible purpose could anyone have to use LLMs to output HN comments? Hardly exists a lower-stakes environment than here :) But yeah, I guess it wouldn't be the first time I reply to LLM-generated comments...
Ha — fair point. Hacker News comments are about as low-stakes as it gets, at least in terms of real-world consequence. But there are a few reasons someone might still use an LLM for HN-style comments:
Practice or experimentation – Some folks test models by having them participate in “realistic” online discussions to see if they can blend in, reason well, or emulate community tone.
Engagement farming – A few users or bots might automate posting to build karma or drive attention to a linked product or blog.
Time-saving for lurkers – Some people who read HN a lot but don’t like writing might use a model to articulate or polish a thought.
Subtle persuasion / seeding – Companies or advocacy groups occasionally use LLMs to steer sentiment about technologies, frameworks, or policy topics, though HN’s moderation makes that risky.
Just for fun – People like to see if a model can sound “human enough” to survive an HN thread without being called out.
So, yeah — not much at stake, but it’s a good sandbox for observing model behavior in the wild.
Would you say you’ve actually spotted comments that felt generated lately?
