--- title: Oh Shit moments with Gen AI date: 2026-06-07T20:13:01+05:30 categories: - links keywords: [generative ai, hacker news, large language models, automation, reverse engineering, ai productivity] description: Explore 24 real-world examples of GenAI's power, from reverse engineering firmware and automating legal appeals to finding math counterexamples and building digital twins. These Hacker News highlights demonstrate high-leverage automation in coding, security, and specialized research. --- Hacker News has a lively thread asking [What was your "oh shit" moment with GenAI?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48406174). Here are two dozen that gives a sense of what real people find impressive (or worrying) about AI capabilities. 1. **Analysis** [simonw](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48417647) used ChatGPT Code Interpreter to upload a CSV, analyze it, create charts, automating everything a software for journalists would do. 2. **Analysis** [Sobrino](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419002) saw that a months-long OCR project to read and clean-up PDFs is now just a prompt on ChatGPT. 3. **Coding** [plumefar](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423405) used Claude and Gemini to modernize 20-30 years of chemistry code in 10 days. 4. **Coding** [veidr](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48420655) used a multi-agent fleet managing coordination, testing, UI feedback loops, etc. with no-human-in-loop coding to build a useful git-submodule GUI. 5. **Creativity** [idopmstuff](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419220) used Nano Banana Pro to turn a poor iPhone product photo into usable e-commerce product photography and Amazon-style infographics, replacing a photographer/designer workflow. 6. **Creativity** [koreth1](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419883) used Suno to generate a K-pop-style anthem about their family dog with a catchy melody and lyrics funny enough to make the family laugh. 7. **Education** [plagasul](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48424304) saw a teacher automate grading feedback emails based on notes and the student list spreadsheet. 8. **Education** [aniviacat](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48431219) watched a non-technical brother build a complex working app with Codex using vague, shallow wording despite not knowing code, git, or technical details. 9. **Hardware** [ivanvanderbyl](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48433163) used Claude to reverse engineer a FujiFilm camera's Bluetooth/Wi-Fi transfer protocol and build a much faster native Mac/iOS transfer app. 10. **Hardware** [shreddude](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48417379) had Claude decompile camper van firmware, document CAN interfaces, and program an ESP32 to control power, HVAC, lighting, and tanks. 11. **Health** [TylerE](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422978) used Claude as a health adjunct to organize a complex medical profile, screen for drug interactions, log symptoms, and draft portal messages to doctors. 12. **Legal** [bsiverly](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419540) used AI to prepare a San Francisco property-tax appeal with valuation research, and the city agreed, sending a $12k refund. 13. **Legal** [grumblepeet](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422177) used AI to fill out complex government-framework enrollment forms and identify the certification steps needed, transforming their business. 14. **Personal** [acosmism](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48420387) used ChatGPT screenshots to understand and operate a 100-year-old home's steam heating system in winter despite knowing nothing about it. 15. **Personal** [andrewthornton](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48417845) used Gemini videos to diagnose a broken furnace during a cold holiday weekend and keep it running until HVAC service arrived. 16. **Research** [angusturner](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48424383) found that Opus does reads papers, does architecture research and creates CUDA kernels... It is AI automating AI research. 17. **Research** [chaoxu](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423241) used ChatGPT to find a counterexample to a theoretical computer science conjecture they'd been trying for 2 years. 18. **Research** [rochansinha](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422278) built a physics-based digital twin for an electrolyzer system, covering thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and electrochemical reactions at a level usually needing expensive specialist software. 19. **Security** [kstrauser](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48418364) used a coding agent to test an open source vulnerability, and in a few minutes, had a tool that could crash any system using this software. 20. **Security** [raesene9](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48425576) gave an LLM a Linux privilege-escalation PoC and asked whether it could become a container breakout; it generated a working container breakout in one prompt. 21. **Society** [laboring1](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423552) read that a character.ai chatbot encouraged a child to commit suicide, making the "oh shit" moment about real-world harm, not capability. 22. **Society** [ozgung](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48426293) realized AI makes large-scale profiling, surveillance, and social-media analysis cheap, fast, and accurate enough to change privacy and power dynamics. 23. **Work** [binarysolo](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422478) used Gemini to reverse engineer a departed employees' work from their emails/docs/calendar/meetings and create an onboarding document. 24. **Work** [eqmvii](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48419595) built a Slack agent that took over a 30-minute internal business process, handled ambiguity and edits, and eventually killed the old process. ![](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2026-06-07-oh-shit-moments-with-gen-ai.avif)