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Profiling Hacker News users based on their comments

simonwillison.net

March 22, 2026

5 min read

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48/100

Summary

User profiling on Hacker News can be conducted by analyzing their last 1,000 comments using the Algolia Hacker News API, which allows retrieval of comments sorted by date and tagged with the author's username. A JSON feed provides access to an individual user's recent comments for analysis.

Key Takeaways

The Algolia Hacker News API allows users to easily access and list comments by specific authors, which can be used for profiling individuals based on their comments.
Simon Willison, a prominent software developer, advocates for "agentic engineering," arguing that coding agents enhance rather than replace programmer skills.
Willison has expressed concerns about security risks associated with AI, coining terms like “prompt injection” and predicting potential attacks.
His programming style includes using coding agents on his iPhone while multitasking, and he emphasizes the importance of learning to effectively use these tools.

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Community Sentiment

Mixed

Positives

The discussion highlights how AI-generated content can significantly enhance productivity, with one user reporting 5-10x gains through AI-assisted coding methodologies.
The ability to profile users based on their comments showcases the potential of AI in understanding user behavior and preferences, which could lead to more personalized experiences.

Concerns

Concerns about privacy and the implications of AI profiling are evident, as users express discomfort with the idea of verbose outputs revealing personal information.
The anxiety surrounding AI's capability to gather and analyze personal data raises ethical questions about user consent and the potential for misuse by corporations or nation-states.