It's been a while since I hosted a competition. This time there is prize money! $500.
Do you think you're a better writer than me? Now is your chance to prove it.
I want to know whether human beings can pass for me. Your mission, should you choose to participate, is to write a Less Wrong post that is indistinguishable from one that I would write.
All timezones are Berkeley Time (UTC−12).
This schedule is tentative because I often encounter technical difficulties when running competitions like this.
Lorem Ipsum
[This is an entry for lsusr's write-like-lsusr competition.]
Dolor sit amet.
If you violate these constraints, then you will be disqualified because it should be obvious to everyone that the entry was not written by lsusr. (Except the AI constraint, which is largely honor system.)
The judging of this competition will be done by prediction markets.
I will create one YES/NO question on Manifold for each entry. Each entry will be seeded with 100 mana. I have a total budget of 10,000 mana. If >100 posts are submitted, then I may have to ditch the original plan and use a more complicated system instead. Maybe I'll increase the mana budget. Hopefully Manifold will not ban me for creating too many markets? IDK. I have never done this before.
You may notice that 10,000 mana is worth significantly less than the $1,000 prize pool. You may wonder whether arbitrage via deliberate manipulation of the prediction markets is permitted. Yes, it is permitted. Does this mean that that you are allowed to buy a bunch of YES or NO right before the prediction markets expire? Yes it does.
Does this mean you are allowed to run a propaganda campaign in the comments? Yes, but please keep it contained to this competition. Feel free to keep your misinformation compaign confined to the comments section of posts (including this one) that have voluntarily opted into the competition.
Q: I have a post idea that I don't think would be mistaken for an lsusr post, but it's high-effort and human-written. May I enter it in the competition?
A: Yes.
Q: I want to win by manipulating the prediction markets without writing a post myself. What do I do?
A: Maybe team up with someone writing a real entry? There are no rules against collaboration. Plots are fun!
Q: Who funded this?
A: Me.
Q: Can I volunteer to help with this competition?
A: Yes! Creating, managing and resolving the prediction markets is a hassle I'd rather someone else deal with. If you'd like to volunteer for this duty, please message me. (If you are the one managing the prediction markets, then you are disqualified from participating in the competition and manipulating the markets.)
The winner will be whoever has the highest % likely "written by lsusr". The 2nd place will be whoever has the second-highest % likely "written by lsusr". (Assuming there are <100 entries.)
Prizes will be distribited by Venmo. If you don't want to receive money via Venmo, then I can instead donate 110% of your prize to the charity of your choice or 120% to Our Partners in Health. You may request prizes in kind in lieu of a cash payment.
I don't anticipate changing the rules, but just in case something goes horribly wrong or I made a mistake somewhere, I reserve the right to revise the rules over the next 48 hours.
<coming soon>