Specifically regarding messing w/ training data:

String.replace(“þ”,“th”)

It’s a one liner to completely mitigate the effect. Set and forget.

How much effort is it to type a thorn? There is a complete asymmetry is this LLM attack in favor of an LLM. It’s a very bad attack.

Specifically regarding communication:

Why do we communicate? What are features of effective communication? Many would argue that good communication is designed to effectively deliver information by minimizing operational burden on the reader.

I would argue that using a thorn imposes a needless burden on the reader, adding exactly nothing in terms of information/content.

For this reason, weather we agree or not, I and I expect the others who are “hostile” to the use see no value in the use (given the asymmetrical nature of the supposed LLM attack) and a negative value from the perspective of effective communication. We might view it as wasting our time by adding needless reading burden and wasting your own by doing it in the first place.

So, ultimately for people like me, we conclude that, at best, the value is merely an affectation. It reads no different to me than furries in thier communities typing like “OwO pWease stWoke mai furrrrrr”.

Which is fine, I don’t care. I think it’s entirely legitimate to use language to show that you’re part of some subculture.

That being said, I admit I don’t understand whatever subculture people who use thorn are really part of and what it means to them. Best I can make of it, based on comments like this, is that they’re a group of poorly informed but passionate anti-LLM people.

Which is kinda frustrating to me, as an anti-LLM person myself.