That's why those "we prefer human writing" polls (such as the one cited in [0]: whooping 98% readers say they prefer human writing to AI!) are just noise.

To quote myself:

> People are really, really good at lying to themselves, let alone to an online poll. They'll tell you that they prefer imperfect or even bad writing as long as it's not AI slop, just like how they'll tell you they like healthier food, they prioritize personality instead of look for potential dates, how they use LLM "only as a spellchecker", and how they use tiktok for educational videos. As long as there is no stake, people will just say what make they feel better.

[0]: https://bcantrill.dtrace.org/2026/09/05/the-revolt-of-the-re...

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dofm 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> That's why those "we prefer human writing" polls (such as the one cited in [0]: whooping 98% readers say they prefer human writing to AI!) are just noise.

Why would they not?

> They'll tell you that they prefer imperfect or even bad writing as long as it's not AI slop,

But I do, and it's very clear that the online communities I frequent prefer people write in their own voice, even with very bad grammar and spelling, rather than resort to chatgpt for their posts and comments — this comes up all the time

> just like how they'll tell you they like healthier food

But lots of us do? Once you are over 30 and you control your own fridge and cook your own food, why would you not?

> they prioritize personality instead of look for potential dates

But (in a fair context for comparison) people actually do, especially women. As long as someone is presentable and shows a bit of self-care and self-respect, for the most part looks rank at least on a par with personality, if not below it.

> how they use LLM "only as a spellchecker"

I don't use it at all for writing; I do know people are weak on this point but I also know that people understand it fosters distrust

> how they use tiktok for educational videos

Huge chunks of people don't use it at all.

Most of what you are saying here sounds like you are projecting low mood and your own personal prejudices and insecurities. Try to be less misanthropic.

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raincole 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Of course more than zero people actually use tiktok for educational purposes and like healthy foods. I'm talking about how questions like that ("do you prefer imperfect human writing or AI writing?", "what do you use tiktok for?", "do you stop reading if you know something is written by LLM?") are ill-designed for questionnaires.

Tests like the OP's link are slightly more meaningful to find out people's true preferences. But of course the best way is still A/B test and tracking user behavior. Anyone has done any form of behavioral tests, online or not, would understand that what people actually do is vastly different from what they think they do. The correlation is often negative.

	▲	dofm 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		"Do you prefer imperfect human writing or AI writing?" is a question that is loaded. It's absolute horseshit (and I would say somewhat sociopathic) to try to A/B test that to catch people out as if to say "aha you are lying to yourself because you can't tell". People's preferences are representative of their desires and aspirations, their future self-perception, their better self, etc. I'm sad that you seem to think that is something they should be disabused of by statistical means. It would be misanthropic to assume that because people say they want healthier food but then don't buy it, that they don't really want it. The proper response to that is not to give people what their behaviour says they will actually buy; it is to broadly compel food producers to make healthier food that matches what they wish they would more often choose. ETA: above all what I want to impress upon you is that "people are really good at lying to themselves" is not actually a statement of fact; it is your opinion and interpretation projected onto the data you choose. There are other ways to explain this gap that do not involve fundamental attribution error.