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A comment on I Love the Computer. Parent comment

Re:I Love the Computer by tptacek on Monday June 15, 2026 @06:13PM (#48547725)
Right, that's what you already said. What I don't understand is the "slot machine" analogy you're making. In what sense is AI a "slot machine"? Are you talking about the stocks of AI companies?
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Re:I Love the Computer by specproc on Monday June 15, 2026 @06:16PM (#48547761)
Variable intermittent reward. Pull the lever, get something nice or something bad. I've had far too much bad today and I'm furious.
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Re:I Love the Computer by fragmede on Monday June 15, 2026 @06:21PM (#48547816)
It's a oversimplified characterization of LLMs as a slot machine. You put in some money, and pull the lever/submit a prompt, and maybe you get a jackpot/working code. It's typically used by morons who think they're smart for repeating it, and that they aren't the stochastic parrots in the room.
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[dead]
Re:I Love the Computer by tptacek on Monday June 15, 2026 @06:42PM (#48548035)
Spoken like someone who's never lost a day fighting the borrow checker.
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