Post #1864537

2026-05-01 23:10 UTC

The retrocomputing community is being overrun by LLM slop just like everywhere else. Slopmongers hear about a system and immediately go to “Hurrrr, I’m going to vibe-code an emulator!” And then they start asking people who know what they’re doing inane questions that demonstrate they didn’t even do basic research, they’re letting the LLM do *everything* for them. If you’re doing this, go fuck yourself. I mean it, get out. Find another hobby. #retrocomputing #ai #llm #slop #butlerianjihad

Replies (7)

@penryu@hachyderm.io 2026-05-01 23:19

@eschaton Yup. Perhaps the one silver lining for retro dev is there's no management enforcing AI use?

Open ##1931162
@peterb@mathstodon.xyz 2026-05-02 00:27

@eschaton I think it's fine for you to not use LLMs and not want to, but I also think it's fine for people to use technology to explore technology in ways that you wouldn't and I want those people to come in and have a seat too. You can kick those people out of your club if you want, but they're welcome in mine. What you can't do - IMO - is kick them out of our shared hobby.

Open ##1931163
@culturednyc@mastodon.social 2026-05-02 05:01

@eschaton Also, composing music.

Open ##1931174
@Johns_priv@mastodon.social 2026-05-02 06:04

@eschaton Them: 'Nooo! You are gatekeeping that hobby!' Hobby user: 'No. We only ask that you do the due diligence and research things. A hobby is nice because it lets you use the brain on something you enjoy ' Them: 'SEE! GATEKEEPING!!'

Open ##1931175
@spacehobo@teh.entar.net 2026-05-02 07:16

@eschaton I always report people who post AI slop to the pixel art hash tags. It's always fun to point out that they don't actually contain pixels.

Open ##1931176
@ltning@pleroma.anduin.net 2026-05-02 09:49

@eschaton Someone I know is currently using LLMs to fix old games and make them user-modifiable: adding 3dfx/glide support to Descent for DOS and making testdrive3 work on fast computers and have custom cars and stuff. It works. I am appreciative of the end goals, but very much not of the way he's getting there. I cannot imagine how many tokens have been burned - or should I say trees and cubic metres of water? I won't touch the result with any kind of stick, no matter how cool the end result is (seen in total isolation).

Open ##1931177
@atax1a@infosec.exchange 2026-05-02 19:51

@eschaton @petrillic the flexibits irix guy blocked us when we called him on promoting a slop emulator. it's not just slopmongers, the call is coming from inside the house

Open ##1931178