MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by palmotea | 2025-05-21 13:43:04+00:00
> Sounds like its written by an AI non believer.

> I've been able to write things in a week that would literally take me six moths previously.

I don't think you get it. For instance: would you have been able to do that if you were on a team that was not empowered, not self-organising, and you were "afraid to fail ... afraid to try – to make calls, to take initiative, to just f-ing do it"? I doubt it.

I'm curious exactly what that thing was that you "[wrote] in a week, that would have literally take[n you] six moths previously."

Also, what species of moth do you use to measure time?
by cowboylowrez | 2025-05-21 13:43:32+00:00
according to wikipedia "it was just a joke bro" lol, at the time during the show, did anybody laugh? If its the video I just watched, nobody was laughing.

In a statement in the FAQ section of one of his websites, Islam asserted that while he regretted the comments, he was joking and that the show was improperly edited.[94]

I just don't see how the video I watched could have been editted in such a way that would misconstrue the words I just saw mouthed by this guy.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2750537/Video-1...
Show HN: AI Baby Monitor – local Video-LLM that beeps when safety rules break
by zeenolife | 2025-05-21 13:43:48+00:00
Hi HN! I built AI Baby Monitor – a tiny stack (Redis + vLLM + Streamlit) that watches a video stream and a YAML list of safety rules. If the model spots a rule being broken it plays beep sound, so you can quickly glance over and check on your baby.

Why?

When we bought a crib for our daughter, the first thing she tried was climbing over the rail :/ I got a bit paranoid about constantly watching her over, so I thought of a helper that can *actively* watch the baby, while parents could stay *semi-actively* alert. It’s meant to be an additional set of eyes, and *not* a replacement for the adult. Thus, just a beep sound and not phone notifications.

How it works

* *stream_to_redis.py* captures video stream frames → Redis streams

* *run_watcher.py* pulls the latest N frames, injects them + the rules into a prompt and hits a local *vLLM* server running *Qwen 2.5 VL*

* Model returns structured JSON (`should_alert`, `reasoning`, `awareness_level`)

* If `should_alert=True` → `playsound` beep

* Streamlit page displays both camera and LLM logs
by jqpabc123 | 2025-05-21 13:43:56+00:00
There won’t be a human safety driver in the cars, Musk promised

Instead, they will be supervised remotely.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2025/05/17/tesla-...

Uber barely makes any money without owning the vehicles or assuming liability for their operation.

Tesla's plan is to own and insure the vehicles, pay employees to remotely monitor them, compete with Uber on cost and make tons of money as a result.

Sorry, color me skeptical. I'll have to see it done to believe it. Actually adding income to the bottom line will take years if ever.
by josefrichter | 2025-05-21 13:44:14+00:00
Yes. But the LLMs are not really models of the language, but models of the usage of the language. Since they're trained on real-world data, they inevitably encode the snapshot of how the world "speaks its mind".

Is it realistic to expect that RL is trying to compensate all the biases that we "dislike"? I mean there's probably millions of biases of all kinds, and building a "neutral" language model may be impossible, or even undesirable. So I am personally not sure that this particular bias is a result of overcompensation during RL.
by DavidSJ | 2025-05-21 13:44:21+00:00
I agree with you that AI has much larger theoretical benefits than cryptocurrency, but I don’t think it’s fair to say cryptocurrency is wasteful by design. Bitcoin’s proof of work serves a vital function: securing the network from double-spending attacks. At the time of bitcoin’s invention, it was the only known solution to that problem, so it’s no more “wasteful by design” than a bank hiring a security guard. There are admittedly alternatives to proof of work today; I’m unsure how well they work by comparison, but even if they suffice for security, that only means that bitcoin is wasteful due to being more primitive technology, not by design.
by jeffbee | 2025-05-21 13:45:22+00:00
> What exactly is the reasoning here? That airplanes use a lot of energy, just like data centers ...

No. It is not "just like data centers". That is my point. The amount of energy used by transportation is several orders of magnitude more than the energy used by information technologies. The energy used to fly back and forth to Nevada to write this whiny article was more than was needed to train some of the latest models. The whole topic is totally nonsense.
Show HN: I built an Free AI tool to generate pixel art from text descriptions
by RichardFu | 2025-05-21 13:45:35+00:00
Hi HN,

I'm excited to share a project I've built: PixelateImage.org.

Instead of being a traditional image editor, this is an *AI-powered tool that generates pixel art directly from your text prompts.* If you've ever wanted to create unique pixel art characters, scenes, or assets for games, art projects, or just for fun, but perhaps lacked the specific artistic skills or time, this might be for you.

My goal was to make generating retro-style or modern pixel art more accessible. You can type in a description (e.g., "a brave knight in a dark forest," "a futuristic cityscape at night," "a cute cat wearing a wizard hat") and the AI will attempt to create a pixel art version of it.

Key aspects:

* *Text-to-Pixel Art:* The core functionality. Describe what you want to see. * *Focus on Pixel Art Style:* Aims to produce images that have that distinct pixelated aesthetic, which can be different from general-purpose AI image generators. * *Simple Interface:* Designed to be straightforward – enter prompt, generate. (You can mention any specific style options or controls if the site has them). * *Use Cases:* Great for indie game developers needing quick assets, digital artists exploring new styles, or anyone nostalgic for pixel graphics.

I'm keen to see what kind of pixel art the HN community can create with it and would greatly appreciate any feedback on the generation quality, usability, or any features you'd like to see. It's still evolving!

Thanks for taking a look!
by davidjfelix | 2025-05-21 13:45:39+00:00
Unwrap is fine if used sparingly and as mentioned, to indicate a bug, but in practice it requires discipline and some wisdom to use properly - and by that I mean not just "oh this function should be a `Result` but I'll add that later (never).

I think relying on discipline alone in a team is usually a recipe for disaster or at the very least resentment while the most disciplined must continually educate and correct the least disciplined or perhaps least skilled. We have a clippy `deny` rule preventing panics, excepts, and unwraps, even though it's something we know to sometimes be acceptable. We don't warn because warnings are ignored. We don't allow because that makes it too easy to use. We don't use `forbid`, a `deny` that can't be overridden, because there are still places it could be helpful. What this means is that the least disciplined are pushed to correct a mistake by using `Result` and create meaningful error handling. In cases where that does not work, extra effort can be used to add an inline clippy allow instruction. We strongly question all inline clippy overrides to try to avoid our discipline collapsing into accepting always using `unwrap` & `allow` at review time to ensure nothing slips by mistakenly. I will concede that reviews themselves are potentially a dangerous "discipline trap" as well, but it's the secondary line of defense for this specific mistake.
by esafak | 2025-05-21 13:45:44+00:00
I speculate what is going on is that the agent's context retrieval algorithm is bad, so it does not give the LLM the right context, because today's models should suffice to get the job done.

Does anyone know which model in particular was used in these PRs? They support a variety of models: https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/which-ai-model-...
by dlisboa | 2025-05-21 13:46:08+00:00
You don't need to make an entire movie out of this. One or two scenes that are difficult or impossible to film on a certain budget is enough to lift the production value of a movie. One can use this as CGI replacement, for example to produce a couple seconds scene of an ancient city and stretch that out with fake panning.

You can also use it as a communication tool such as making a "live" storyboard to prep location, blocking, maybe even as notes for actors.
by h2zizzle | 2025-05-21 13:46:15+00:00
Taxes. Letting bubbles pop without bailing out the losers.

Both of those can be targeted in such a way as to deflate an inflated economy in a controlled way. The messaging is the hard part, as you're fighting against the emotions of a prideful workforce and the teeth-gnashing of the ambitious elite who see the stars as the literal limit. It is, however, possible to make sure everyone gets what they need to survive and even modestly thrive, while bringing the insanity of our current asset valuations and consumer prices back down to Earth, for a fraction of the cost of trying to keep the charade going indefinitely. You just have to throw rich people under the bus, instead of young and middle-aged workers whose purchasing power bleeds out every time we do yet another never-done-before thing to backstop failing banks and securities.

>That's a planned economy.

Man, do I have something to tell you about the FFR, porkbarrel spending, etc....
by grewsome | 2025-05-21 13:46:28+00:00
Sometimes the last 10% takes 90% of the time. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out, and whether it will eventually get to something that could be considered a solved problem.

I'm not so sure they'll get there. If the solved problem is defined as a sub-standard but low cost, then I wouldn't bet against that. A solution better than that though, I don't think I'd put my money on that.
by bob1029 | 2025-05-21 13:46:35+00:00
This is what is kicking in when you do anaerobic exercises:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_post-exercise_oxygen_co...

> Anaerobic exercise in the form of high-intensity interval training was also found in one study to result in greater loss of subcutaneous fat, even though the subjects expended fewer than half as many calories during exercise.

Walking essentially does nothing to your EPOC levels. A one rep maximum deadlift can elevate it substantially for hours. 10 seconds of suffering can trigger responses that hours of walking cannot.
by goku12 | 2025-05-21 13:46:35+00:00
That's not what the article is saying, despite what the title implies. He is saying that while unwrap should be generally avoided, there are a few genuine use cases for it.

I follow his advise on error handling, since that's what I found convenient as well. Rust error handling is hard to get started with. But you need to learn it only once before it becomes a second nature. Most of my projects contain only a handful of unwraps.
by nimbius | 2025-05-21 13:47:09+00:00
the sheer size of ipv6 alone means a lot of the 'old ways' get left behind.

"sorting by ip" for example is eschewed in favor of router advertisements where hosts pick their own subnet delegations.

one of the ways you track all of this is using a dhcp6 server with dns updates turned on. the subnet delegation is picked up by the client, which in turn pings dhcp6 and reports its IP for update in the DNS server.
by wyre | 2025-05-21 13:47:09+00:00
I think its more like saying that the ceo of Tesla isn't citable on conversations about the expected advancement in electric car technology.

What I mean is that I have a healthy level of skepticism with Altman. He has to constantly battle for funding. Surely, he must be knowledgeable about LLMs, but he's the CEO of the largest AI company in the world, his PR needs to give "most knowledgeable person in the world on the topic" but I think that title should go to all of the engineers and developers working on these technologies and not a capital founder.

All that said, I agree that LLM's being bad for the environment is a complex topic. I think it would be more accepted if people had safety nets and could be excited for AI to take their job instead of having to be terrified, or if AI isn't just used as another tool for increasing wealth inequality.
by bix6 | 2025-05-21 13:47:13+00:00
“Smaller teams are better value/$ spent”

Is this true? A more established / larger organization often has higher revenue per employee.

I guess value is subjective but from a pure economic standpoint I think the F100 employee wins?

Nvidia is 2xing a year right now so a smaller team / startup would have to match at least that. Certainly some will but enough to make the point valid?

I think scope likely plays a big role here.
by worldsayshi | 2025-05-21 13:47:21+00:00
I feel there's a fundamental flaw in this mindset which I probably don't understand enough layers of to explain properly. Maybe it's my thinking here that is fundamentally flawed? Off the top of my head:

If we let intellectual property be a fundamental principle the line between idea (that can't be owned) and ip (that can be owned) will eventually devolve into a infinitely complex fractal that nobody can keep track of. Only lawyer AI's will eventually be able to tell the difference between idea and ip as the complexity of what we can encode become more complex. Why is weights not code when it clearly contain the ability to produce the code? Is a brain code? Are our experiences like code?

What is the fundamental reason that a person is allowed to train on ip but a bot is not? I suspect that this comes down to the same issue with the divide between ip and idea. But there might be some additional dimension to it. At some point we will need to see some AI as conscious entities and to me it makes little sense that there would be some magical discrete moment where an AI becomes conscious and gets rights to it's "own ideas".

Or maybe there's a simple explanation of the boundary between ip and idea that I have just missed? If not, I think intellectual property as a concept will not stand the test of time. Other principles will need to take its place if we want to maintain the fight for a good society. Until then IP law still has its place and should be followed but as an ethical principle it's certainly showing cracks.
Show HN: I built Skilltrick.ai, a web extension to help pass coding interviews
by SkilTrick | 2025-05-21 13:48:34+00:00
Hi HN,

I’ve built Skilltrick, a browser extension designed to help people pass online technical tests, QCMs, and coding challenges on platforms like Leetcode, CoderPad, CodinGame, HackerRank, TestGorilla, and others.

The extension works by analyzing the content of the test page in real-time, then offering contextual suggestions or guidance — either via LLM-powered responses or custom hints.

It’s particularly useful for:

Developers preparing for technical interviews

Career switchers taking online assessments

Students practicing for exams or certifications

Skilltrick was born out of a very personal experience. A few months ago, I had to shut down my company following a serious surgery that nearly cost me the use of my legs. During my recovery, I started job hunting again — and I was shocked at how dehumanizing and mechanical the recruitment process had become, especially with platforms like CoderPad or Leetcode.

So I decided to build something that would make this phase more bearable, a tool to help understand questions faster, reduce pressure, and give candidates a fairer shot without grinding endless edge-case algorithms.

https://skilltrick.ai Currently works best with CoderPad and Leetcode.

Still improving it — feedback, criticism, or interesting test cases are all welcome.

Happy to answer any questions or share details on the tech stack (Svelte + browser APIs + LLM + DOM parsing engine).

Thanks! Jérémy
by Moto7451 | 2025-05-21 13:48:57+00:00
You’re in a good part of the country for grid power. I’m in Georgia where the typical rate is about 14 cents but summer rates are more like 18. Summer rates aren’t captured in this EIA chart but you can see the whole country. With summer rates and high energy use for cooling and dehumidification it’s a 7-8 year payback for a 13kW DC/10kW AC system.

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph...
by redeux | 2025-05-21 13:50:11+00:00
As endurance hunters our bodies are tuned for efficient use of energy during low/medium paced exercise. Walking is awesome, and I try to get out there and do an hour a day, but I agree - you get much better results from the gym because our bodies aren’t specifically tuned for those types of workouts. Lifting weights also has a lot of tangible benefits for both men and women in the short and long term.
by Loughla | 2025-05-21 13:50:29+00:00
Rural area power co-op member here - flat rate 24/7 for residential is .13/kWh. Businesses/farms can get down to .10/kWh if they qualify.

They proposed to update it to .15 so they could trim trees around the lines a little better, but it got denied by the co-op members as unnecessary.
by bccdee | 2025-05-21 13:50:44+00:00
Good question. Wouldn't it be convenient if this were one of the most written-about political subjects of the last 150 years?

In short: The problem with capitalism is class striation. Society is divided into a capital-owning class and a labouring class. Capitalists, as they control the productive capital in our economy, portion out economic profits as they see fit, paying labourers as little as is necessary while retaining for themselves the maximum possible amount. Labourers, owning negligible amounts of capital themselves, are dependent on capitalists for work and have little recourse.

Hence, power consolidates in the hands of capitalists. They have leverage over politicians through lobbyists, over the public through media, and over their employees through the threat of job loss. The labouring class are second-class citizens. Healthcare is inaccessible to many them. They're frequently mired in debt. If they become disabled, they could easily lose their homes and wind up on the street.

In one sense, the solution is obvious: Dissolve the boundary between these classes so that none of these class inequalities exist anymore. Now, how is that done? Who knows. The traditional answer is, "the tensions in the existing system will exacerbate until the workers all organize and force a new status quo upon society," but that doesn't seem to be happening. Then again, if we had a solution, the problem wouldn't exist anymore, would it.
by kamaal | 2025-05-21 13:50:45+00:00
Again I don't know what people mean when they say it will get more expensive. This is a wrong way of looking at the issue.

Pretty sure cars are more expensive than horse carriage, or that iPhones are/were more expensive than button phones. You can cite so many such examples. Like photocopying machines, or cameras, or wrist watches, or even things like radio, television etc.

More importantly, sometimes how you do things change. And that changes how you go about your life in a very fundamental way.

That is what internet was about when it first came out, thats what internet search, online maps, or search etc etc were.

AI will change how you go about living your life, in a very fundamental way.
by pfdietz | 2025-05-21 13:50:48+00:00
I'll give you the good example I've been doing for the last two decades: testing a compiler.

The complexity here is the complete opposite of the simple toy examples. What are the edge cases of an optimizing compiler? How do you even approach them, if they're buried deep in a chain of transformations?

The properties are simple things like "the compiler shouldn't crash, the compiled code shouldn't crash, and code compiled with different optimization levels should do the same thing." This assumes the randomly generated code doesn't touch undefined behavior in the language spec.

Here's a recent example of a bug found by this approach. The Common Lisp code stimulating the bug has been automatically minimized: https://bugs.launchpad.net/sbcl/+bug/2109837 with the bug fix https://sourceforge.net/p/sbcl/sbcl/ci/1abebf7addda1a43d6d24...
by ecocentrik | 2025-05-21 13:51:59+00:00
It's hard to find anything wrong with your conclusions except that you're leaving out the part where they're trying to automate our contributions to devalue our skills. I'm surprised there isn't a movement to halt the use of AI for certain tasks in software development on the same level as the active resistance from doctors against socialized medicine in the US. These expensive toys will inevitably introduce catastrophic level bugs and security vulnerabilities into critical infrastructure software. Right now, most of Microsoft's product offerings, like GitHub and Office, are critical infrastructure software.
by johnisgood | 2025-05-21 13:52:04+00:00
My problem with panics is that if it is a library (e.g. standard library), then I cannot handle the error the way I want. Let us say that you have a library that parses something. As the user of that library, you want to be able to handle these errors gracefully, you do not want the library to just panic at those parse errors. Sadly I have seen libraries do this.
by axegon_ | 2025-05-21 13:52:08+00:00
I saw that article in 2023 and I have mixed feelings. In general there are cases where you want a program to crash and it's a preferable option as opposed to a never-ending chain of handling. For that purpose, unwrap is actually perfect. It is also great for examples, documentation, so that people can see what to expect and how a certain block should behave.

But there's the other case(which I've also suffered from). It is tempting to do the fast thing when you are on a tight schedule. One such instance was when we had to deliver something which was arguably undeliverable within the deadline we had. There were two services which were communicating over gRPC, and to make matters worse, not tonic but some custom implementation. But those worked surprisingly well against all odds. But there was a third service where we had to use a regular, plain ol' boring http requests. "I'm returning you the ID as a string inside the response, just cast it to a 32 bit integer and you're good to go" they said. "Fair", I thought: response_id::<i32>().unwrap(), compile and deploy. Needless to say, the ID was not a 32 bit integer. Point is, if you control the entire ecosystem you are working on, unwrap, although undesirable in many cases, is fine. Anything else - handle the errors.
by averyc | 2025-05-21 13:52:18+00:00
I vibe-coded an AI assistant to help me work on my broken bmw.

I used cursor,langchain, and openai to build a tool that helps me find torque specs in technical documentation with natural language prompts. It uses retrieval augmented generation in order to work and I think it’s pretty cool.

This is a simple proof of concept that I wanted to explore and I was pretty impressed at how helpful it’s been so far.

This video is a walkthrough of my process in building this. There’s quite a bit of depth left out of this so if you have specific questions feel free to ask!