The guidelines are out of date and they don't mention anything for or against AI comments. Having your comment flagged makes the number of upvotes irrelevant.

The search thread you were linked to (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...) are comments from dang, the head moderator of HN. His word is the law.

> His word is the law.

Well now that sounds dystopian.

All high-quality internet forums require good/strict moderation.

Where you apparently have to search for the text from one person to see if speech is allowed or not.

Each member has to learn to grok community norms.

If you think about a behavior, and wonder if it is within community norms, not behaving that way is the simplest thing that might work.

Or you can always ask the moderators using the |contact| link at the bottom of every page.

And sure you can just do it and find out what happens. If you do that you have no reasonable complaint and “sorry” is the best response.

People often upvote comments that are contrary to the spirit of HN.

And for better or worse, lawyering the guidelines is not in the spirit of HN. Better because moderation is generally patient, kind, and soft touch. Worse because the guidelines are guidelines not so much bright lines and some people want bright lines.

He’s the one that said it was in the guidelines, not me.

You are responsible for your behavior.