Jason Lefkowitzjalefkowit@vmst.io
Jun 9, 2026, 2:42 PMHow much do you want to bet that this just means it has a CLAUDE.md file that says “do not hallucinate cases”
Replies
- Jason Lefkowitzjalefkowit@vmst.ioJun 9, 2026, 4:01 PM
Back in the '80s and '90s, there was a category of software pejoratively referred to as "databases for dentists."
Desktop relational databases like dBase, FoxPro and Access were incredibly flexible. You could apply them to nearly any business situation by writing a little business logic and building a few forms. But understanding that required a degree of abstract thinking which most people don't have.
So for a while, you could make a lot of money by taking a general-purpose database, slapping a few forms on it that were specific to a particular type of small business, and selling it to those businesses at a huge markup.
- Jason Lefkowitzjalefkowit@vmst.ioJun 9, 2026, 4:06 PM
All of which is to say that if "AI for dentists" (or law offices, or florists, or auto repair shops, or whatever) that is just Claude/ChatGPT/Gemini/etc. with a lightly customized ruleset slapped on top isn't a thing already, it almost certainly will be, and some folks will make a lot of money selling it to people who don't realize they can write their own CLAUDE.md files
Jun 9, 2026, 2:45 PM@jalefkowit Rookie mistake. You have to tell it not to hallucinate in uppercase
Obot 50549535obot50549535@left-bank.netJun 9, 2026, 2:55 PM@jalefkowit All this delicious BBQ I eat is not supposed to make me fat.
PalmAndNeedlePalmAndNeedle@norden.socialJun 9, 2026, 6:25 PM@obot50549535 @jalefkowit it's keto! Goddamnit
Mx. Eddie Rsilvermoon82@wandering.shopJun 9, 2026, 4:13 PM@jalefkowit
I've seen a bunch job postings already for companies that sell "AI for (lawyers/dentists/GPs/other roles that should not have AI)", that seem mostly designed to make the company appear legitimate to potential investors.
cauZationcauZation@mastodon.socialJun 9, 2026, 4:18 PM
Jun 9, 2026, 6:38 PM@jalefkowit i think that training data might possibly be more focused on the field.
Reginaldraganwald@social.bau-ha.usJun 9, 2026, 4:08 PM@jalefkowit During this period I proved that you could also make a small amount of money by writing a little business logic and a few forms, wrapping it in a nice UX out at the edge of what a desktop DB was capable of, integrating it with PageMaker and QuarkXPress, and then—here comes the kicker—selling it to an industry of small businesses about to be wiped out by the Internet.
Leigh Garlandtoychicken@mastodon.socialJun 10, 2026, 6:25 AM@jalefkowit did my last FileMaker build in 2002 for a small arts charity... 6 years later I got a phone call from a plaintive admin asking for the admin password. I didn't have it, but I did remember where they could find it. A post-it stuck to the back of the machine it ran on. It was still there, and my career in cyber security was assured.
Jun 9, 2026, 6:03 PM@jalefkowit This implies the existence of legal tools that are *supposed* to hallucinate cases.
"Oh, there's your problem, you had it switched to Evil."
The Orange Themetheorangetheme@en.osm.townJun 9, 2026, 6:32 PM@jwz @jalefkowit Supreme Court.
Nathan A. Stinestinerman@mastodon.socialJun 9, 2026, 6:37 PM@jalefkowit reminds me of when were doing a refactor of a particular feature and the dev manager said there was no need to test it because it was not new functionality.
When it went into prod there were some bugs. Dev manager said completely straight faced that he was surprised to hear this because he told the developers to just refactor and not cause any regressions.
Jun 9, 2026, 6:54 PM@jalefkowit these are lawyers, so surely it should be CLAUDE.docx instead of a markdown file
Greg Bellferrix@mastodon.onlineJun 9, 2026, 8:38 PM@jalefkowit @cammerman them: "you don't understand, modern agents are better now"
Their agents.md: "* Important: You are a modern agent and you are better now!"
Rose, Skaven Mars PriestessRoseRaven@eldritch.cafeJun 9, 2026, 8:40 PMis it really that difficult to check that the cases are real before you try and use them in court?
