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how can a total layman protect themselves from AI bullshit and scammers when looking to learn from or ask someone to help with a website? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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The internet sucks a lot right now. I know it's full of AI and scammers, the Lemmy users are helpful to spread warnings about them everyday. It's a little disheartening though to know that a lot of the warning signs are way above my entry level knowledge. Is there anyplace "safe" where someone can ask questions or even hire (not a job request post!) someone to help make a website without getting something that looks pretty but is actually a vibe coded nightmare?

Alternatively, what should laymen like myself be on the lookout for when trying to interact with this field? A real doctor can show credentials and answer questions, a real artist has a portfolio and can talk you through their process, I don't know what to ask a website maker person

thanks :3

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[–] [S] 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

thanks for responding! Are there any specific terms to watch out for? Solid questions to ask? Ways to see if they're actually making things vs asking their AI to do it for them? We're a tiny advocacy group and we have a lot of medical smartness on the team the joke about doctors being utter shit at making the computer go brr is sadly very true in my team

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Lol, got it.

    Weird formal grammar, way too much detail way too fast, non-substantive message content, or long pauses before responding to what should be a simple question are red flags.

    If the conversation feels normal going back and forth, you're getting the information you want from this person and they're directly answering your questions, green flag.

    There's really no way to tell if they're using AI on the back end, unless you're extremely computer literate, because even if you find someone trustworthy, you don't know what they're doing, and some legitimate web developers use AI as a legitimate tool, so I'd encourage you to first make sure that you know exactly what you want for your website, because knowing exactly what you're looking for makes any web developers job way easier, and then make sure that's what the person is developing and that if you guys agree to work together you have a simple written contract that says the developer is going to build this website for this amount of money as specified in our agreement.

    If they are a real web developer, they shouldn't blink at a contract. If they are not legitimate, they will not want to sign an agreement.

    All of that said, there are quite a few platforms that are drag and drop GUI build your own website templates you can use without any coding knowledge that you could check out and even participate in the free trial for and see if you want to build the site yourself first.

    Squarespace, Wix, there are plenty of platforms on which you can build your own website that will include annual hosting for probably less than hiring a professional developer, especially if you're looking for a simple website.

    Totally depends on what you're trying to create.

    You know, fiverr has probably a billion vibe coders, but you could easily ask for a consultation with any of them and get a free five minutes Q&A so you can get used to asking developers questions.

    Full disclosure, i've worked with a web developer tangentially, but have never hired one myself, so these are all general business suggestions rather than direct hiring experience talking.

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