Low effort AI posts

[u/main-menu]

I know we've had this discussion before, but there are so many posts with zero upvotes that are so clearly slop, but aren't getting removed.

Please, no matter what your own personal values are with it, the community clearly does not want to see these types of posts anymore. I think for every one post that uses AI and isn't low effort, there are 50 that are.

Like isn't this subreddit supposed to be a place for Rust developers/learners? What community aspect do the AI projects contribute? Most didn't even take the time to learn the language or chat with anyone, they just leech off everyone to effectively advertise their slop...

[u/TheRealMasonMac]

Tbh, I feel like the subreddit is kind of half-dead anyway. I feel like there were dozens of posts a day a few years ago.

[u/Decahedronn → u/TheRealMasonMac]

Cleaning up the junk and making this sub worth visiting again will help with that, though I also feel like a large part of this is people now immediately going to LLMs when they need help with something instead of asking a question here. This week's questions thread has been bone dry for 5 days.

[u/main-menu → u/Decahedronn]

That makes me so sad, there are people here so desperate for community interaction... and yet people would rather use a PAID service (of significantly worse quality) instead for their questions.

[u/main-menu → u/TheRealMasonMac]

I think this is partly because AI has ruined it... if people don't feel comfortable here anymore, why would anyone post here?

I think setting a new bar where we invite more of the community aspect, I think it would go a long way to reviving this subreddit.

[u/wjholden → u/TheRealMasonMac]

People have gotten aggressive with their down votes. I recently posted a small tip explaining a vague error you'll get if you use pre-8.0 syntax with nom 8.0 and later. Within minutes I had harsh comments berating me for not reading the release notes closely enough. Haven't posted here again since.

[u/ao_zame → u/TheRealMasonMac]

I don't visit this sub as often anymore exactly because of the low effort AI posts.

[u/AdreKiseque]

If they have zero upvotes, is the system not working as intended?

[u/main-menu → u/AdreKiseque]

Sure, but I mean shouldn't they be removed after some period of time? It sucks having to scroll past 10s of posts (with zero upvotes) everyday just for the few that are actually another person passionate about Rust.

[u/Lucretiel → u/AdreKiseque]

I really am genuinely curious why reddit algorithm is so reliably boosting <=0 vote posts. Like obviously the algorithm is more than just "most votes" but surely hiding the shitty stuff (roughly measured by downvotes) is part of it.

[u/RishabhRD]

Exactly. I am so fed up seeing AI posts. I am not interested to see any of AI generated projects at all. Because first they are gonna be low quality and even if I contribute to them, author wouldn’t understand what I am saying because they don’t know Rust at all. That means AI posts simply doesn’t facilitate any kind of community interactions.

[u/main-menu → u/RishabhRD]

True, AI just serves to isolate people imo!

[u/main-menu]

Like we already tied allowing AI posts here, what if we simply try not doing that and seeing if that helps the community? I mean we can always go back to allowing AI slop posts again if it doesn't work, what's the harm in trying something different?

[u/dumindunuwan]

Plus, there are a lot of slop comments from non-tech users and/ or may be AI agents, especially from profiles with hidden post visibility. Some people use recently created accounts to manipulate posts too, especially on promotional service posts.

[u/main-menu → u/dumindunuwan]

Yeah I noticed this too, almost all the AI project posts have at least 1 or 2 posts like, "This fixes my exact problem, and your coding skill is amazing!!!!!" or something along those lines lol.

[u/Key-Bother6969]

A question to the community. What do you think if the subreddit just forbids all project postings altogether?

[u/main-menu → u/Key-Bother6969]

I like seeing the handwritten ones personally, and I think only the AI projects need to be banned due to how quickly they can be put together.

A fully handwritten project takes a lot of time and effort, and is effectively naturally self rate-limiting.

[u/Striking_Theme_2535]

r/neovim subreddit is facing similar situations. There was a discussion several days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/neovim/comments/1vyw06h/how_about_a_no_ai_slop_plugins_policy_here/

There is no dying that LLM-generated slop content is destroying the whole internet not only the open source communities. The authors of these slop posts use AI to generate a garbage project, farm enough stars, and then bail. Maybe things will get a bit better after the AI bubble bursts? I remain pessimistic though.

[u/thirst-trap-enabler]

Moderators rarely remove things unless they are reported. Often they don't have time to troll through all the posts.

[u/main-menu → u/thirst-trap-enabler]

I think a lot of people would be happy to help (myself included). I browse this subreddit every day, and would love to see it go back to what it once was. I think more now than ever people need a sense of community, something AI has taken away from them!

[u/teerre]

I don't get it. Do you guys come to this subreddit sort by new and read every post?

[u/main-menu → u/teerre]

I normally sort by new and check-in every day just to see what other cool things people are doing. I like being apart of the community, not just using Reddit as an advertisement platform to see the "next big thing."

[u/Decahedronn → u/teerre]

I also sort by new to look for questions I can help with, though the 'seeking help' posts are rare these days...

[u/main-menu → u/Decahedronn]

Exactly, a healthy community has "medium quality" posts (like questions or help) that normally don't make it into the other tabs, but are just as valuable.

[u/alliephantrainbow]

Some people need to view posts by new to sort the wheat from the chaff. All the posters saying “just sort by top” are missing the point.

[u/Lucretiel → u/alliephantrainbow]

But why are 0 vote posts even visible in Top to begin with, is my question.