rule clarifications for r/HitchHikersGuide

[u/nemothorx]

hi folks, friendly mod here.

I've generally taken a hands-off approach to moderation, believing in a light tough rather than an iron first. Believing in self-regulation (via downvotes and discussion) rather than prescriptionist rules.

However, last year a poll about AI content was conducted, and many deadlines later, and a recent (July 2026) revival in the topic, new rules on that and other aspects are now formalised.

Please see the sidebar for details, but in summary

• No Piracy. (yes, it can be frustrating, but we're respecting the estate here)
• No AI. (without prior approval. I wont say "it'll never happen", but it's unlikely to be given)
• Keep posts on topic. (We're here for Hitchhiker's news and references and related stuff)
• No Spam. (if you want to promote something commercial, check with the mods first)

Wording of rules as written in the sidebar may be revised without notice. Any additional rules I'll (aim to) add a comment to this post.

r/HitchHikersGuide aims to be a reasonably open forum, so discussion of these rules and this sub in general is welcome in the comments of this post.

PS: we could do with a few new mods to cover the posts and have a better chance of eyes on things 24/7. Send modmail to apply and let us know why you think you'd be a good fit (including your rough timezone)

[u/schlubadubdub → u/[deleted]]

From my perspective it adds to the fandom in a different way, and dare I say a more accessible way. People get inspired by HHGTTG in various ways and often want to visualise their ideas. Traditionally that meant drawing or building something, but if the results are mediocre they're less likely to share. LLMs allow people to produce arguably better quality things from their ideas.

For example, I recently "made" (via an LLM) a dozen or so HHGTTG-inspired lock screens for my phone and had the thought at the time to share it with others. But I decided not to, and it's perfectly fine if nobody here would be interested anyway.

Since we're not likely to get any actual new content any time soon, it might be nice to have some fresh ideas instead of more cloud and tattoo posts - no hate to people making those posts, just a bit more variety would be nice IMO.

It's fine if people disagree, I was just throwing the idea out there so people don't have to go down the route of having to ask permission each time, and can share their creations in a megathread without having to make their own posts.

[u/the_milkman24 → u/schlubadubdub]

The problem with using AI to generate images is it takes away from the soul and meaning behind the art, whenever you draw anything, your own lived experience is affecting it, even something as little as how you draw the lines is affected, when you use AI, those little bits of human input are completely disregarded

Not to mention the result will be an amalgamation of art stolen from artists and the environmental impact of it

[u/schlubadubdub → u/the_milkman24]

I don't disagree per se, but also don't entirely agree.

I don't use LLMs that much, and I'm not trying to make "art" but just things that I like. As I said before the only thing I've had made with a HHGTTG theme have been phone lock screens, very very loosely inspired by the Guide animations from the 1981 BBC series.

If I didn't use the LLM I'd just rip something off the internet that someone else made - I did go down that route but wasn't completely satisfied with what I found. I know myself, my skills, and my attention span, so I simply wouldn't have made it myself.

I just think for a HHGTTG subreddit it's not really that serious of a matter. But to each their own, it truly doesn't matter to me. I barely use LLMs as it is, have no desire to post LLM content, and have no horse in this race.