New feature: suggested thread titles when posting

[KatyMumsnet]

Hi all,

We’ve made a small change to the thread-creation page that you might notice.

When you start a new thread, you may now see a suggested title based on what you’ve written in your post.

The aim is simply to make posting a bit easier. In user research, quite a few people told us that thinking of a title can feel like a small blocker when they just want to get their question or situation posted. The suggestion is there to help with that - you can use it, edit it, or ignore it entirely and write your own as usual.

Clear titles also make it easier for other users to understand what a thread is about and find discussions later on.

Just to be clear:

• It’s only a suggestion, not something you have to use
• You can change it or delete it completely
• Your post content is not changed in any way

We’re flagging it here so people know what it is if they spot it.

As always, if you have feedback about how it works in practice, we’d love to hear it.

From an environmental point of view, why do this?

Yeah this.

I also don’t want more energy resources squandered on AI titles. What a fucking waste. It’s supposed to be a chat forum for HUMANS.

@KatyMumsnet Any comment on the environmental aspect? Won't be a great headline when the DM pick up on 'Leading Mums website promoting global warming'.

There’s a thread under Education currently with the title ‘W’ …

🤷‍♀️

How likely is it that the 'suggested title' AI function is actually contributing more environmental impact than MNHQ's AI would be generating without that function?

I'm just wondering, because clearly MNHQ is moving into AI commercially on quite a significant scale. In the coverage of its potential sale, they seem to be marketing their use of AI to generate resources for marketers. If AI is rumbling away in any case across MN, perhaps the suggested title thing is just an impact-free side-'benefit'. Like drying your washing on a radiator that was on anyway.

Without evidence that this particular functionality for the AI will actually have an environmental impact, it doesn't seem like a significant source of objection.

I don’t think AI works like that.

I've just thought of an analogy that clarifies, for me, why it is so absurd to have any auto-generated chat components on a chat site. It is like an actual gardener, an actual fan of plant-growing, buying artificial plants and sticking them in soil.

I'm not hostile to artificial plants. If all you want something that looks colourful, stays consistent, and isn't full of mealybugs and dead leaves, then go for it. But gardeners and plant fans want the potential for imperfection, unpredictability and even failure because it is part of connecting with something as a living, changing thing.

Can you explain why not?

Part of what makes long running threads what they are (which by the way is the only research I ever tried to take part in but the survey didn’t work properly and I told MN twice without getting any reply) is that people take turns making them and coming up with relevant titles and it generates a community feel. I think handing over to an unknown entity will make for a very soulless forum. I know there is a choice at the moment but if it becomes the main title generator that may change in the future.

Agreed. I was asked to take part in that research but could see no point. Why do you start threads in Radio Addicts to discuss The Archers? Take a wild guess why I do it! I started a new thread last night and experienced this AI title generation nonsense at first hand. As far as I can see, the idea is that you write your OP and regardless of whether you've added your own title or not the AI then scans what you've written and suggests its own title. In my case it came up with something totally anaemic like 'Discuss The Archers, all welcome, no spoilers please'. We've had nearly 200 consecutive threads about TA now. A bland title like that would cause confusion as it would presumably be the same every time. Fortunately I had no difficulty posting my own instead.

I don’t think drying your washing on a radiator works like that either.

Oh brilliant! It'll free up more time for me to spend licking the bottom of my shoe.

Have you not got an automated shoe-licker, @Callcat ? I have, and it frees up SO much time for grunting out my own thread titles. Game changer!!

I managed to post my thread today @KatyMumsnet, once I thought to remove the links I had included and put them in the second post.

Once I did that, the AI feature provided a possible title (which I didn't use) and I was able to post.

The thing is, the subject of a thread is where an OP will set out what they want from the thread.

”Need school trousers but my son is a difficult size”

”Planting bulbs to replace a box hedge”

”AIBU to set fire to my neighbour’s shed”

I’ve said this elsewhere but what makes MN attractive (to me) is that it is made up of women who can write really well. Part of writing well is knowing what you want from what you are writing - otherwise it risks becoming a mad, stream of consciousness post (those don’t tend to get many responses). If you really don’t know what to title your thread, chances are that you won’t know what you want from it either.

If (like me) you don’t much like seeing Chat GPT and other AI on MN, please come to the thread about it on Site Stuff and say so. MN monitors the Site Stuff threads - no idea if they will take any notice but we can only hope.

I wonder how much of this is about optimising for search - both on Google and AI. Titles can make a big difference there.

Ah, that makes sense, @EmpressaurusKitty. I recall pleading with MNHQ to slightly edit the title of a board, because it didn’t reflect the prevailing experience of people who might use that board. IIRC search optimisation was one of the reasons they gave for refusing.

See my username, and even I hate this.

I’ve said this elsewhere but what makes MN attractive (to me) is that it is made up of women who can write really well.

Agree with this @CruCru - it's the main reason to stick to MN for me.

@KatyMumsnet this is a shocker of an idea. You only need to see the comments on threads when posters (needlessly) use chatGPT to compose their responses.

The main problem for me is they turn everything into bland nothingness.

Being clear what the issue is, whether asking for help, support or whatever, is what makes the forums of value.

I cant understand why MNHQ would want to undermine what is in many ways its unique selling point.

Not just for advertisers or even investors, but those who actually make MN a valuable online resource, the users whose contibutions are the resource.

It disrespects that. Without that content what would MN be?

Suggestion to acknowledge that some may have problem with titles.

Return the start a new thread to what it always was ie:

Title:

OP:

Then either between the Title and the OP or at the end of the OP add an option WHICH IS ONLY ACTIVATED WHEN ASKED FOR for AI to suggest a title.

At the moment the layout is not rational in terms of creating a thread.

Second the option is often glitchy. ie on one thread I created it never appeared, but after I posted had changed my title even though I never clicked to say I wanted to use.

And although it says click to use suggested title, somehow it seems to think you have clicked.

So even if it is kept it needs to be redesigned, and better tested.

Another suggestion.

Click to start a new thread.

Then have 2 options:

1. I want to compose my own title (click)
2. I want AI to compose my litle (click)

This is driving me mad.
Five and six line thread titles.
They actually put me off reading the thread .
I much prefer a short title even if it doesnt particularly convey what the thread us about - I quite enjoy the mystery of not knowing until I actually click on the thread. These days I read the thread title and just move on.
It just seems an exercise in dumbing down the site and making it actually boring.

I saw a thread yesterday where nobody knew what the OP was talking about because the AI had removed the subject.

I keep seeing threads where the OP is berated for a misleading title, and it turns out that it was the AI one.

A lot of people seem to assume that they have to use it and that it's just an automatic feature. Then it gets them in trouble. No-one stressed and asking for help needs to have to bat off posts criticising them for their title.

I can see no positive to the feature and would love to see it go.