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Posted by rocauc 1/23/2026

Proof of Corn(proofofcorn.com)
476 points | 307 commentspage 7
itsafarqueue 1/23/2026|
Slop.

I have zero doubt Claude is going to do what AI does and plough forward. Emails will get sent, recommendations made, stuff done.

And it will be slop. Worse than what it does with code, the outcomes of which are highly correlated with the expertise of the user past a certain point.

Seth wins his point. AI can, via humans giving it permission to do things, affect the world. So can my chaos monkey random script.

Fred should have qualified: _usefully_ affect the world. Deliver a margin of Utility.

We’re miles off that high bar.

Disclosure: all in on AI

fhennig 1/23/2026||
Lol, the farmer also doesn‘t grow corn, their workers in the fields do.
recursive 1/24/2026|
Do you think that farmer would fail to grow corn if he was challenged and tried to do it?
fhennig 1/28/2026||
Not sure, but at least a human farmer has the potential capacity to do it. An LLM doesn't, that was the point I was trying to make.

The important part is the stuff happening in the physical world.

chakazula 1/23/2026||
But how will it lobby the federal government to guarantee returns?
dsr_ 1/23/2026||
So... the only job that LLM can replace in the chain here is CEO.
jrflowers 1/24/2026||
Man Buys Domain and Posts Plan to Talk to the Computer

581 points 342 comments

tpolm 1/24/2026||
Modern-day Turing test: AI receives $100,000 and must make $1m
jollyllama 1/23/2026||
See also: King Corn [0] - in which two random guys try to grow an acre of corn and learn about industrialized agriculture in the proces.

[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1112115/

programd 1/23/2026|
See also: Clarkson's Farm [0], for some of the messy reality of running an actual modern farm in England (though edited for entertainment value). I suspect the current AIs are not quite up to doing this - but I firmly beleive it's only a matter of time.

[0]https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10541088/

bstsb 1/23/2026||
somewhat related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46311144
naveed125 1/24/2026||
This is the kind of cool stuff i come here for
jpmattia 1/23/2026|
I think the most intriguing part of this effort: Farmers traditionally employ machines to achieve their harvest. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the first time that machines are employing humans to achieve their harvest.

I mean, more or less, but you see what I'm getting at.

kennywinker 1/23/2026|
> Farmers traditionally employ machines to achieve their harvest

Most food is picked by migrant laborers, not machines.

mvidal01 1/23/2026||
It depends on the crop. Corn (Maize): Harvested using combine harvesters that pick, husk, and shell the grain. Sweet Corn might be the exception. Soybeans: Harvested using combines to cut and thresh the plants. Wheat, Barley, and Oats: Harvested using combines to cut, thresh, and clean the grain. Cotton: Harvested mechanically using cotton pickers or strippers. Rice: Mechanically harvested with combines when the stalks are dry. Potatoes and Root Vegetables: Lifted from the ground using mechanical harvesters that separate soil from the produce. Lettuce, Spinach, and Celery: Mostly hand-harvested by crews, though automation is increasing. Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries): Primarily hand-picked for fresh market quality, though some are machine-harvested for processing. Tree Fruits (Apples, Cherries): Mostly hand-picked to prevent bruising, though some processing cherries use tree shakers. Wine Grapes: Frequently harvested by hand to ensure quality, especially for high-end wines. Peppers and Tomatoes: Processed tomatoes are machine-harvested, while fresh peppers are largely hand-picked.
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