Ask HN: Can you give examples of AI taste?
A Hacker News user discusses "taste" in AI, arguing that in 2013 an AI trained on existing data would not have recommended React.js over older frameworks like Angular or Backbone, and asks if the next breakthrough tool might be overlooked because it isn't in AI training data.
Background
- This is a discussion on Hacker News (the tech community forum) asking what "taste" means when using AI coding tools (like ChatGPT or Claude). The author proposes taste is the ability to choose a new, superior technology — React.js in 2013 — even though at the time all the data and conventional wisdom pointed to older, dominant frameworks like Angular or Backbone.js.
- React.js was released by Facebook (now Meta) in 2013 and was initially controversial — it introduced a novel "virtual DOM" and JSX syntax that broke from established patterns. It eventually became the dominant frontend framework.
- The deeper worry: if a 2013 developer had relied on an AI assistant trained on then-existing code (jQuery, Angular, Backbone), the AI would never have suggested React because it was too new. The author asks whether today's best-but-nascent tools (frameworks, languages) are being overlooked because they aren't yet in AI training data — meaning AI tools may reinforce the status quo and make it harder for genuinely novel ideas to emerge.