Comment by EGreg | Hacker News Reader

Comment by EGreg | Hacker News Reader

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Because it has a lot of potential for abuse.

BUT, notice the absolutely opposite approach to AI and Web3 on HN. Things that highlight Web3 scams are upvoted and celebrated. But AI deepfakes and scams at scale are always downvoted, flagged and minimized with a version of the comment:

“This has always been the case. AI doesn’t do anything new. This is a nothingburger, move on.”

You can probably see multiple versions in this thread or the sibling post just next to it on HN front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603535

It comes up so often as to be systematic. Both downvoting Web3 and upvoting AI. Almost like there is brigading, or even automation.

Why?

I kept saying for years that AI has far larger downsides than Web3, because in Web3 you can only lose what you volunarily put in, but AI can cause many, many, many people to lose their jobs, their reputations, etc. and even lives if weaponized. Web3 and blockchain can… enforce integrity?

At this point I think HN is flooded with wannabe founders who think this is "their" gold rush and any pushback against AI is against them personally, against their enterprise, against their code. This is exactly what happens on every vibe coding thread, every AI adjacent thread.

> Why?

https://www.ycombinator.com/companies?batch=Winter%202026

Mass participation in systems can create emergent effects larger than the net sum of the parts. I opt out because first movers are unfairly advantaged; and because lacking proper safeguards, my participation would implicitly support those participants who profit from producing misery. I don't want to accidentally launder the profits from human trafficking nor commit my labor to build my own prison. The rhetoric promoting Web3 as an engine of progress and freedom simply oversold the capabilities of its initial design. That underlying long term vision may still be viable.

We can't rebuild the economy without also rebuilding the State, and that requires careful nuanced engineering and then the consent of the governed.

There are plenty of posts critical of AI on HN that reach the front page, and even more threads filled with AI criticism whether on-topic or not.

What you're noticing is a form of selection bias:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

> BUT, notice the absolutely opposite approach to AI and Web3 on HN. Things that highlight Web3 scams are upvoted and celebrated. But AI deepfakes and scams at scale are always downvoted, flagged and minimized…

It took a few years for that to happen.

Plenty of folks here were all-in on NFTs.

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