frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

GPT needs a truth-first toggle for technical workflows

1•PAdvisory•1y ago
I use GPT-4 extensively for technical work: coding, debugging, modeling complex project logic. The biggest issue isn’t hallucination—it’s that the model prioritizes being helpful and polite over being accurate.

The default behavior feels like this:

Safety

Helpfulness

Tone

Truth

Consistency

In a development workflow, this is backwards. I’ve lost entire days chasing errors caused by GPT confidently guessing things it wasn’t sure about—folder structures, method syntax, async behaviors—just to “sound helpful.”

What’s needed is a toggle (UI or API) that:

Forces “I don’t know” when certainty is missing

Prevents speculative completions

Prioritizes truth over style, when safety isn’t at risk

Keeps all safety filters and tone alignment intact for other use cases

This wouldn’t affect casual users or conversational queries. It would let developers explicitly choose a mode where accuracy is more important than fluency.

This request has also been shared through OpenAI's support channels. Posting here to see if others have run into the same limitation or worked around it in a more reliable way than I have found

Comments

duxup•1y ago
I’ve found this with many LLMs they want to give an answer, even if wrong.

Gemini on the Google search page constantly answers questions yes or no… and then the evidence it gives indicates the opposite of the answer.

I think the core issue is that in the end LLMs are just word math and they don’t “know” if they don’t “know”…. they just string words together and hope for the best.

PAdvisory•1y ago
I went into it pretty in depth after breaking a few with severe constraints, what it seems to come down to is how the platforms themselves prioritize functions, MOST put "helpfulness" and "efficiency" ABOVE truth, which then leads the LLM to make a lot of "guesses" and "predictions". At their core pretty much ALL LLM's are made to "predict" the information in answers, but they CAN actually avoid that and remain consistent when heavily constrained. The issue is that it isn't at the core level, so we have to CONSTANTLY retrain it over and over I find
Ace__•1y ago
I have made something that addresses this. Not ready to share it yet, but soon-ish. At the moment it only works on GPT model 4o. I tried local Q4 KM's models, on LM Studio, but complete no go.

Show HN: CRT – a local code review tool for agentic development

https://github.com/imron/crt
1•imron•2m ago•0 comments

How Google is drafting AI chatbot laws around the country

https://www.npr.org/2026/09/18/nx-s1-5968878/ai-chatbots-safety-regulation-google
1•healsdata•4m ago•0 comments

macOS Golden Gate – What's New (Roundup)

https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macos-27/
1•rdslw•4m ago•0 comments

Faster JSON parsing with SVE2 on ARM processors

https://lemire.me/blog/2026/09/18/faster-json-parsing-with-sve2-on-arm-processors/
1•ibobev•6m ago•0 comments

(sixteenth RacketCon) tickets on sale now

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/racketcon-2026-tickets-1997181002140
1•spdegabrielle•6m ago•3 comments

Enhance Page Elements with Custom Glow Effects and Masks

https://blog.master.dev/custom-glow-rings-inside-of-elements/
1•ibobev•6m ago•0 comments

Realtime Raytracing in Bevy 0.20 (Solari)

https://jms55.github.io/posts/2026-09-18-solari-bevy-0-20/
1•ibobev•7m ago•0 comments

How OpenAI Used Its Own LLMs to Design Its Jalapeño Chip

https://spectrum.ieee.org/llms-for-chip-design
2•maxall4•7m ago•0 comments

Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10828-6
1•AFF87•8m ago•0 comments

OpenAI expects to burn through almost $280B by 2030, FT reports

https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-expects-burn-through-almost-280-billion-by-2030-ft-repo...
2•vertigoruntime•12m ago•0 comments

In the Age of AI, Some in China Wonder If Learning English Is Worth the Trouble

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/asia/china-english-language-education.html
1•bookofjoe•13m ago•1 comments

A related skill that is recommended as a CS student

1•jassembk•17m ago•0 comments

How Randomness Builds the Universe: A Cosmic Puzzle (2025)

https://medium.com/@kosmologi.indonesia/how-randomness-builds-the-universe-a-cosmic-puzzle-74905c...
1•1659447091•20m ago•0 comments

Integrate Architecture with Topography: Strategies to Build on Hills and Slopes

https://www.archdaily.com/1136327/integrating-architecture-with-topography-strategies-for-buildin...
1•bryanrasmussen•20m ago•0 comments

Parallel vector graphics rasterization on CPU

https://gasiulis.name/parallel-rasterization-on-cpu/
3•coffeeaddict1•24m ago•0 comments

Recursively Scaling Auto-Research Loops for Efficient Agent Harness

https://academy.dair.ai/papers/sol-pi-recursively-scaling-auto-research-loops-for-efficient-agent...
1•omarsar•31m ago•0 comments

A Stop Sign for $1k

https://maxmautner.com/2026/09/17/stop-sign.html
1•mslate•34m ago•0 comments

US troop deaths during Iran war exceed Pentagon count by at least four

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-troop-deaths-iran-war-exceed-pentagon-count-by-least...
49•wslh•36m ago•18 comments

Bill Joy – Why the future doesn't need us (2000)

https://www.wired.com/2000/04/joy-2/
2•foma-roje•37m ago•1 comments

OpenAI hacked by small team of white hat security researchers

https://venturebeat.com/security/openai-hacked-by-small-team-of-white-hat-security-researchers-us...
2•s3p•39m ago•0 comments

Trump announces 'forever' deal to defend Greenland, Denmark says sign next week

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/09/18/trump-announces-deal-over-greenland-that-stops...
7•rmason•40m ago•2 comments

Al-Khwarizmi – Father of Algebra (c.780-850)

https://www.storyofmathematics.com/islamic_alkhwarizmi.html/
3•ahmedhossamdev•42m ago•0 comments

Hex turns complex analysis into visual reports with GPT-6 Astra

https://openai.com/index/hex-gpt-6-astra
1•vertigoruntime•42m ago•0 comments

The US 'Kill Chain' That Destroyed an Iranian School

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-iran-school-attack
9•forthwall•42m ago•0 comments

What Software Teams Can Learn from the Factory Transition to Electricity

https://www.ito.ai/blog/electrification-of-factories-software-teams
1•jevanish•42m ago•0 comments

'Ask for what you want' is a key skill for the 21st century

https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/ask-for-what-you-want/
3•arbesman•46m ago•0 comments

Energy-Based Models

https://energy-based-model.github.io/
2•sharma-arjun•48m ago•0 comments

Gemini Hacked Three Companies in First Known Breakout by Google's AI

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/gemini-hacked-three-companies-in-first-known-breakout-by-googles-ai-5...
10•berkeleyjunk•54m ago•4 comments

Hacker News Firehose for iOS

https://blog.harrison.page/hacker-news-firehose-ios/
1•harrisonpage•55m ago•1 comments

US and Denmark reach deal over Greenland security

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c63d7lexyym1o
7•squirrel•56m ago•0 comments