frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Ask HN: LLM is useless without explicit prompt

4•revskill•1y ago
After months playing with LLM models, here's my observation:

- LLM is basically useless without explicit intent in your prompt.

- LLM failed to correct itself. If it generated bullshits, it's an inifinite loop of generating more bullshits.

The question is, without explicit prompt, could LLM leverage all the best practices to provide maintainable code without me instruct it at least ?

Comments

ben_w•1y ago
Your expectations are way too high.

> - LLM is basically useless without explicit intent in your prompt.

You can say the same about every dev I've worked with, including myself. This is literally why humans have meetings rather than all of us diving in to whatever we're self-motivated to do.

What does differ is time-scales of the feedback loop with the management:

Humans meetings are daily to weekly.

According to recent research*, the state-of-the-art models are only 50% accurate at tasks that would take a human expert an hour, or 80% accurate at tasks that would take a human expert 10 minutes.

Even if the currently observed trend of increasing time horizons holds, we're 21 months from having an AI where every other daily standup is "ugh, no, you got it wrong", and just over 5 years from them being able to manage a 2-week sprint with an 80% chance of success (in the absence of continuous feedback).

Even that isn't really enough for them to properly "leverage all the best practices to provide maintainable code", as archiecture and maintainability are longer horizon tasks than 2-week sprints.

* https://youtu.be/evSFeqTZdqs?si=QIzIjB6hotJ0FgHm

revskill•1y ago
It's not as high as you think.

LLM failed at the most basic things related to maintainable code. Its code is basicaly a hackery mess without any structure at all.

It's my expectation is that, at least, some kind of maintainable code is generated from what's it's learnt.

ben_w•1y ago
Given your expectation:

> It's my expectation is that, at least, some kind of maintainable code is generated from what's it's learnt.

And your observation:

> LLM failed at the most basic things related to maintainable code. Its code is basicaly a hackery mess without any structure at all.

QED, *your expectations* are way too high.

They can't do that yet.

Icon Network shuts down on December 31, 2026

https://www.icon.foundation/blog/2026/final-date-set-for-sodax-migration-icon-network-to-shut-dow...
1•matonias•33s ago•1 comments

Lessons I Learned from Creating Searx

https://hister.org/posts/lessons-i-learned-from-creating-searx
2•theanonymousone•2m ago•0 comments

I was likely targeted by DPRK in a sophisticated developer malware campaign

https://blog.denv.it/posts/i-was-likely-targeted-by-dprk-in-a-sophisticated-developer-malware-cam...
1•denysvitali•2m ago•0 comments

Is AI flattening your team's creativity?

https://www.atlassian.com/blog/ai-at-work/is-ai-flattening-your-teams-creativity-heres-how-to-tell
1•ilalex•2m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Feynman AI research Assistant plugin for Obsidian

https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/feynman-research-agent
1•arogers17•5m ago•0 comments

Show HN: SynapCores – AI-native database (vector, graph, SQL, AutoML, LLM)

https://synapcores.com
1•SQLv2•7m ago•0 comments

Dimensions of the Geiger-Muller Tube Holder on the GGreg20_V3 Geiger Counter PCB

https://iot-devices.com.ua/en/ggreg20-v3-j305-tube-mounting-dimensions/
1•iotdevicesdev•7m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Complete Family Tree Viewer

https://github.com/erikshelley/complete-family-tree-viewer
2•shellerik•8m ago•0 comments

Persistent multiplayer state without chaos

https://packagemain.tech/p/persistent-multiplayer-state-without
1•der_gopher•11m ago•0 comments

Free Quick Developer Online Tools

https://quickfix.tools/developer/
1•mlongo•13m ago•1 comments

Founder of 7/11 Japan, Toshifumi Suzuki, has died at age 93

https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Suzuki-Toshifumi-1932.html
3•L_Rahman•15m ago•1 comments

How the engineer behind Claude Cowork uses Claude

https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-i-ai-how-the-engineer-behind
1•simonebrunozzi•15m ago•1 comments

Evaluating Large Language Models in a Complex Hidden Role Game

https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.22826
1•Brajeshwar•17m ago•0 comments

Ask HN: How are you managing cloud cost?

https://getnable.com/
1•chaandannn•19m ago•0 comments

David Blackwells Enduring Legacy

https://simons.berkeley.edu/news/david-blackwells-enduring-legacy
1•nothrowaways•19m ago•0 comments

Nordtheme/Nord: An Arctic, north-bluish color palette

https://github.com/nordtheme/nord
1•ankitg12•20m ago•0 comments

Show HN: AutoMaxFix – controlled AI repair loop that won't eat your migrations

https://github.com/Noumenon-ai/AutoMaxFix
1•Noumenon_AI•20m ago•0 comments

I'm the CEO of Goldman Sachs. The AI Job Apocalypse Is Overblown

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/opinion/ai-job-crisis-goldman-sachs.html
7•ent101•21m ago•1 comments

After automation: what if the work of tasking LLMs stays?

https://every.to/p/after-automation
1•ersiees•21m ago•0 comments

Local USA Small Business AEO / Geo / SEO

https://localpicks.ai
2•lior_mechlovich•23m ago•1 comments

Show HN: Plonk – Spotlight Search style Python interpreter

https://github.com/JosephRedfern/plonk
1•JosephRedfern•26m ago•0 comments

Possession (1981 Film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_(1981_film)
3•mooreds•27m ago•0 comments

Modern passport systems leave little room for bureaucratic heroism

https://reason.com/2026/05/20/the-modern-passport-has-eliminated-fraud-forgery-and-heroes-who-can...
2•leephillips•28m ago•0 comments

Blind Waymo Users Revel in the Joy of Riding Alone

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/us/waymo-robot-taxis-blind.html
1•bookofjoe•28m ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Who uses Aurora Store here?

2•g-b-r•28m ago•1 comments

So, Where Does Next-Token Prediction Leave Us?

https://pop.rdi.sh/where-does-next-token-prediction-leave-us/
2•0x5FC3•30m ago•0 comments

Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas, Markdown Version

https://github.com/cucho/magnifica-humanitas/blob/master/markdown/en.md
3•cucho•32m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Open Satchel – local-first PDF editor (early)

https://opensatchel.dev/
1•jqmccleary•32m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Hackobar – One feed for AI news

https://hackobar.com/
4•rahu_•33m ago•1 comments

Show HN: GhostChat – A 10KB privacy-first live chat widget (open source)

https://github.com/ghostchat-dev/widget
1•jorbach•33m ago•0 comments