alt Hacker News> There was only one small issue: it was written in the programming language and with the library it had been told not to use. This was not hidden from it. It had been documented clearly, repeatedly, and in detail. What a human thing to do.
"Ignoring" instructions is not human thing. It's a bad LLM thing. Or just LLM thing.
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nialse • today at 8:07 AM
It's not necessarily "ignoring" instructions, it's the ironic effect of mentioning something not to focus on, which produces focus on said thing. The classic version is: "For the next minute, try not to think about a pink elephant. You can think about anything else you like, just not a pink elephant."
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The work where I've done well in my life (smashing deadlines, rescuing projects) has so often come because I've been willing to push back on - even explicitly stated - requirements. When clients have tried to replace me with a cheaper alternative (and failed) the main difference I notice is that the cheaper person is used to being told exactly what to do.
Maybe this is more anthropomorphising but I think this pushing back is exactly the result that the LLMs are giving; but we're expecting a bit too much of them in terms of follow-up like: "ok I double checked and I really am being paid to do things the hard way".