bashtoni (u/bashtoni)

bashtoni commented on KPMG wrote 100-page prompt to build agentic TaxBot theregister.com/2025/08/2... · Posted by u/ofrzeta

bashtoni · 4 days ago

If it really is a single 100 page prompt then it will be even less reliable than a KPMG audit.

(See https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/12/kpmg-fined-... or https://pcaobus.org/news-events/news-releases/news-release-d... or https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017-142 or any of a myriad of other cases)

bashtoni commented on Best Practices for Building Agentic AI Systems userjot.com/blog/best-pra... · Posted by u/vinhnx

itsalotoffun · 8 days ago

I'm genuinely curious, is it: a) the writing style you can't stand, b) the fact that this piece tripped your "this is written by AI" and it's AI-written stuff you can't stand? And what the % split between the two is.

(I find there's a growing push-back against being fed AI-anything, so when this is suspected it seems like it generates outsized reactions)

bashtoni · 8 days ago

The saccharin writing style would be bad in isolation, but bearable. The overexposure to it is what leads me to dislike it so much I think.

The fact is written by AI does add a layer of frustration because you know someone wrote something more human and more real, but all you get to see is what the model made of it after digestion.

bashtoni commented on Best Practices for Building Agentic AI Systems userjot.com/blog/best-pra... · Posted by u/vinhnx

bashtoni · 8 days ago

Am I the only one who cannot stand this terrible AI generated writing style?

These awful three sentence abominations:

"Each subagent runs in complete isolation. The primary agent handles all the orchestration. Simple." "No conversation. No “remember what we talked about.” Just task in, result out." "No ambiguity. No interpretation. Just data."

AI is good at some things, but copywriting certainly isn't one of them. Whatever the author put into the model to get this output would have been better than what the AI shat out.

bashtoni commented on What'll happen if we spend nearly $3T on data centres no one needs? ft.com/content/7052c560-4... · Posted by u/rwmj

gruez · 20 days ago

It'll get used eventually. Just like the fiber optic cables built during the dotcom bubble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble#Bubble_in_telec...

bashtoni · 19 days ago

There were many companies in the mid 2000s that were viable only because they bought networks at a fraction of the cost spent to build them.

bashtoni commented on Typed languages are better suited for vibecoding solmaz.io/typed-languages... · Posted by u/hosolmaz

Mistletoe · 20 days ago

I don't know what vibecoding is, and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

bashtoni · 20 days ago

I wouldn't worry too much, no-one seems to be able to agree what it means anyway.

Depending on who you speak to it can be anything from coding only by describing the general idea of what you want, to just being another term for LLM assisted programming.

bashtoni commented on Modern Node.js Patterns kashw1n.com/blog/nodejs-2... · Posted by u/eustoria

refulgentis · 21 days ago

The LLM made this sound so epic: "The node: prefix is more than just a convention—it’s a clear signal to both developers and tools that you’re importing Node.js built-ins rather than npm packages. This prevents potential conflicts and makes your code more explicit about its dependencies."

bashtoni · 21 days ago

Agreed. It's surprising to see this sort of slop on the front page, but perhaps it's still worthwhile as a way to stimulate conversation in the comments here?

bashtoni commented on Show HN: Use Their ID – Use your local UK MP’s ID for the Online Safety Act use-their-id.com/... · Posted by u/timje1

bashtoni · a month ago

When I tried it with the Walthamstow constituency the ID used a , as a date separator instead of a .

Seems odd, but probably wouldn't be noticed by an automated validator anyway.

bashtoni commented on The U.K. closed a tax loophole for the global rich, now they're fleeing wsj.com/world/uk/the-u-k-... · Posted by u/fortran77

gruez · a month ago

I think by "asset" OP actually means "real property", otherwise the subsequent statement of "if you own most of Mayfair, you can't just move your assets elsewhere - they are very clearly tied to the location" doesn't really make sense. You could easily move corporations around, for instance, so the statement is only really true when applied to real estate.

bashtoni · a month ago

This isn't limited to property.

Britain could just as easily tax profits on the sale of shares in British companies, regardless of the country of domicile of the company or individual that sold the shares.

We don't need wealth taxes, we just need parity between tax on earned and unearned income.

bashtoni commented on The U.K. closed a tax loophole for the global rich, now they're fleeing wsj.com/world/uk/the-u-k-... · Posted by u/fortran77

bashtoni · a month ago

The British government closed this loophole because it's politically easier than the strategy which is actually needed: properly taxing assets.

This is much harder to evade - if you own most of Mayfair, you can't just move your assets elsewhere - they are very clearly tied to the location.

Of course, this would mean taxing powerful aristocrats, including the royal family. With their large majority, the British government had the opportunity to do this, but decided to take an easier path. The reason why this path was easier is now becoming clear to them.

bashtoni commented on Fintech founder charged with fraud; AI app found to be humans in the Philippines techcrunch.com/2025/04/10... · Posted by u/noleary

k-i-r-t-h-i · 4 months ago

I was wondering why there wasn't a DOJ concern when Amazon Go did the same thing:

> Amazon Go: Early on, Amazon was clear that it was testing “Just Walk Out” tech — and it was known (at least in tech circles) that they had humans reviewing edge cases through video feeds. Some even joked about the “humans behind the AI.” > Their core claim was that eventually the tech would get better, and the human backup was mostly for training data and quality assurance. > They didn’t say, “this is 100% AI with zero human help right now.”

> Nate: Claimed it was already fully automated. > Their CEO explicitly said the AI was doing all the work — “without human intervention” — and only used contractors for rare edge cases. > According to the DOJ, the truth was: humans were doing everything, and AI was just a branding tool. > Investors were told it was a software platform, when it was really a BPO in disguise.

bashtoni · 4 months ago

Sadly, I think we all know the answer - because laws don't apply to large corporations or wealthy, powerful individuals in the same way they apply to the rest of us.