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: A Libc-free HTTP server compiled to native x86-64 with FreedomLang

https://github.com/DO-SAY-GO/freelang/blob/main/examples/HTTPD.md
1•keepamovin•2m ago•0 comments

Repeated Azure VM deployments split into operational lineages

https://webbynode.com/articles/repeated-azure-deployments-split-into-operational-lineages
1•gsgreen•3m ago•0 comments

Cpp2Rust: Translates C++ to safe Rust automatically

https://github.com/Cpp2Rust/cpp2rust
2•signa11•3m ago•0 comments

Request for Senior Developer and Senior Cybersecurity

1•essina•3m ago•0 comments

Show HN: NoMac – let your AI agent ship iOS apps without a Mac

https://nomac.app
2•garymiklos•3m ago•0 comments

Kids run experiment to make $1M

https://www.dollarexperiment.website/
1•stephinmn•5m ago•0 comments

A new kind of robot swims the seas and soars the skies

https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885040/robot-flying-aerial-aquatic-mit-birds
1•Brajeshwar•6m ago•0 comments

Garnix Is Joining Shopify

https://garnix.io/blog/shutting-down/
7•l2dy•6m ago•1 comments

The Politics of Shrimp

https://www.thedial.world/articles/news/bangladesh-shrimp-farming-climate-change
2•speckx•6m ago•0 comments

Turbopuffer vs. Manticore Search on a couple of cheap VPS

https://manticoresearch.com/blog/turbopuffer-vs-manticore/
1•snikolaev•9m ago•0 comments

Data Colada [136] Metadata Falsificada: The Cover-Up File in Gino vs. Harvard

https://datacolada.org/136
1•patrickod•11m ago•0 comments

How to Build a Coding Agent

https://github.com/nicolaygerold/howtobuildacodingagent
2•tosh•11m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Offline Substack Reader

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stacks-offline-reader/id6778920098
1•hruss•11m ago•0 comments

Compilers and AI 'Cyber' Defense

https://steveklabnik.com/writing/compilers-and-ai-cyber-defense/
1•steveklabnik•11m ago•0 comments

Scan Scam: Criminals Redirect China's Public QR Codes to Porn

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1018752
1•momentmaker•12m ago•1 comments

The fix for my AI agent wasn't making it smarteR

https://tryfraym.com
1•jrud•13m ago•0 comments

Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. To Gain an Edge in Battle

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/us/politics/ai-terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria.html
1•johnny313•13m ago•2 comments

Show HN: Living Neural Network on the Webpage

https://mikky-a.github.io/mnist-station/
1•mikky-a•14m ago•0 comments

IPv4 and IPv6 Subnet Calculator

https://openvpn.net/subnet-calculator/
1•addybojangles•14m ago•1 comments

Why Write Code in 2026

https://softwaredoug.com/blog/2026/07/09/write-code
2•softwaredoug•15m ago•0 comments

Database Consistency Models

https://jepsen.io/consistency/models
2•gurjeet•15m ago•0 comments

Commit Messages

https://mikro2nd.mataroa.blog/blog/commit-messages/
2•speckx•15m ago•0 comments

Meta AI image detector fails to identify some of its own cropped AI images

https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-ai-image-detector-fails-identify-some-its-own-cropped-ai-im...
1•adithyaharish•17m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Journal, Yours to Keep

https://cozyjournal.app/
1•not_wowinter13•18m ago•0 comments

German lawmakers pass cost-saving bill that drugmakers say will drive them out

https://endpoints.news/german-lawmakers-pass-cost-saving-bill-that-drugmakers-say-will-drive-them...
1•brandonb•20m ago•0 comments

USDA lowers beef export sales by 90% amid growing doubts over data

https://www.reuters.com/business/usda-lowers-beef-export-sales-by-90-amid-growing-doubts-over-dat...
1•ijidak•20m ago•0 comments

Generalizing LLMs to PLTs: Probabilistic Language Tries

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.06228
1•EGreg•20m ago•0 comments

We May Owe Our Intelligence to Our Unique Neurons

https://nautil.us/we-may-owe-our-intelligence-to-our-unique-neurons-1282599
1•Brajeshwar•20m ago•0 comments

Steam sales reportedly topped $11B during H1 2026 due to shifting trends

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/steam-sales-reportedly-topped-usd11-billion-du...
6•speckx•21m ago•0 comments

Hands-On with the AMD Ryzen AI Halo

https://www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news/article/amd-ryzen-ai-halo-review.aspx
3•bdcravens•21m ago•0 comments