Post

@ccanonne.github.io

This is what "research" looks like for many paper-producing groups or individuals, in light of the recent advances in LLMs/AI systems. PSA: this may look tempting! But this is not good, this is not research, and, very much like when I tried to play Quake 3 back in the day, this will not end well.

27/9/26, 7:11 am5 reposts32 likes

David Picard

@davidpicard.eurosky.social

That's because we reward people for being first instead of rewarding them for being smart

Clément Canonne

@ccanonne.github.io

Yes, and before these were more strongly correlated (not perfectly of course, but non-negligibly).

Martin Trapp

@trappmartin.eurosky.social

I don’t think it’s about being smart (we are all smart), it’s about taking research & research ethics seriously and working hard to do a good job.

Henry Yuen

@henryyuen.bsky.social

I know this is not the intended effect but I am getting an intense wave of nostalgia.

Clément Canonne

@ccanonne.github.io

(as mentioned in the ALT text, this screenshot is not by me, this is the thumbnail from an image search, and is from a YouTube video, youtu.be/cDq2LOQlAG4?...)

youtu.beQuake 3: Team Arena - Capture the Flag (Fallen Bunker)YouTube video by kikiokyo

Clément Canonne

@ccanonne.github.io

When I say "this is not good" let me be more specific: (1) this is not good for academia (destroying the current system before it has a chance to reassess its incentive structure), (2) it is not good for science (flooding the gates with ill-understood results and insightless or badly written proofs)

Clément Canonne

@ccanonne.github.io

And (3) this is not even good for the authors! People see through it, and there's a real (and serious) reputational damage to be incurred! Unfortunately, that's the least easy to quantify, but also one very hard to repaired once incurred.

Clément Canonne

@ccanonne.github.io

To repair* I need to buy new fingers.