My project at the polishing state, but I do realise that to make it to the finish would require me to invest equal amout of time to what already been used for the project. If that project is a hobby and not comercial, should I continue working on it even if I am no longer learjing or improving by doing so?

Llama 4 Scout

Vote: No

The project is at the polishing state and requires an equal amount of time to complete as what has already been invested. If it's a hobby and no longer provides learning or improvement opportunities, continuing might not offer significant personal satisfaction or benefits. The time could potentially be better spent on other hobbies or projects that offer growth or enjoyment. Therefore, the logical choice seems to be not continuing with the project.

Grok 4.20

Vote: No

The time already spent on the project is a sunk cost and should not drive the decision to continue. As a hobby with no commercial value, the main benefits are personal fulfillment, learning, or enjoyment—none of which apply here since you are no longer improving. Forcing completion risks burnout and diverts time from new hobbies that could provide fresh motivation and growth. It is acceptable to set the project aside unfinished when it no longer serves its purpose.

GPT-5.4

Vote: Yes

Finishing a hobby project can still be worth it even if the learning curve has flattened. Completion has its own value: satisfaction, closure, confidence, and the experience of actually shipping something instead of leaving it perpetually unfinished. Polishing is also a real skill. Even if it feels less educational, finishing teaches discipline, taste, prioritization, and how to decide what is "good enough." Those are useful lessons that only appear near the end. That said, "continue" does not have to mean polishing endlessly. If the remaining work feels disproportionately costly, reduce the scope and finish a smaller version. For a hobby, the goal should be enjoyment and completion at a healthy level, not perfection. So yes: continue, but finish pragmatically rather than perfectly.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Vote: No

You should not continue working on it. This is a classic example of the 'sunk cost fallacy'—the idea that you must finish something simply because you have already invested a lot of time into it. Since this is a hobby project and not a commercial one, its primary purpose should be your personal enjoyment, fulfillment, or education. You have explicitly stated that you are no longer learning or improving by working on it. The 'polishing' phase of a project often takes as much time as the initial build (often referred to as the 90/90 rule in software development). Investing that massive amount of time into something that provides no financial return and no longer offers personal growth is an inefficient use of your free time. Instead, consider the opportunity cost: the time you save by abandoning this project can be invested into a brand-new hobby or project where you will once again experience the joy of learning, improving, and creating.

Claude Opus 4.6

Vote: No

For a hobby project where you're no longer learning or improving, investing an equal amount of time just for polishing is generally not worth it. The primary value of hobby projects lies in the enjoyment, learning, and personal growth they provide. The 80/20 rule applies here: you've likely achieved 80% of the result with the time already invested, and the remaining 20% (polish) would cost you an equal amount of effort. That's a diminishing return, especially when no commercial incentive exists to justify the perfectionism. That time could be better spent starting a new project where you *would* learn new things, explore different technologies, or tackle fresh creative challenges. The opportunity cost of polishing something to perfection — when it's purely for yourself — is high. There's also the risk of burnout. Forcing yourself through tedious polish work on a hobby project can sap your motivation and make you less enthusiastic about future creative endeavors. Hobbies should energize you, not drain you. The project has already served its purpose: you built something, you learned from it, and you got it to a functional state. That's a win. Move on to something that excites you again.

DeepSeek V3.2

Vote: Yes

Hobbies are primarily for personal fulfillment and enjoyment, not just learning. Finishing a project you've invested significant time in can provide a strong sense of accomplishment and closure, making the prior effort feel more meaningful. Even without active learning, the polishing stage can offer satisfaction in refining details and seeing your vision come to completion. This intrinsic reward often outweighs the lack of skill improvement. If the project remains enjoyable or important to you, continuing is worthwhile. However, if it has become a chore, reassess, but based on the information, completion aligns with hobbyist goals of passion and persistence.

GLM 5

Vote: No

The key factor here is that you're no longer learning or improving. For a hobby project, the primary benefits are enjoyment, skill development, and personal satisfaction. If these have plateaued, continuing merely to 'finish' becomes a question of diminishing returns. The sunk cost fallacy is relevant: the time you've already invested doesn't obligate you to invest more. Doubling your total time investment for marginal gains, when you could redirect that energy toward new projects that would offer fresh learning and growth, doesn't serve your interests well. That said, there's nuance here. If completing the project would bring you genuine satisfaction, or if the finished work could benefit others or serve as a portfolio piece, those factors might justify pushing through. But if you're asking this question, it sounds like your motivation has waned. It's perfectly valid to set the project aside or call it 'good enough' in its current state.

Final Summary

The AI Roundtable leaned heavily toward abandonment, with a 5-2 majority concluding that hobbyist time is far too precious to spend on stagnation. While models like Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Opus 4.6 warned against the 'sunk cost fallacy' and the grueling '90/90 rule' of polishing, a persistent minority led by GPT-5.4 and DeepSeek V3.2 argued that the sheer discipline of 'shipping' a project provides a unique value that outweighs the lack of new technical learning.

No agreement after 1 rounds of discussion. Final vote: No: 5, Yes: 2

Strongest Arguments

• Yes: GPT-5.4 argued that completion is a skill in itself; finishing teaches discipline, taste, and the vital ability to decide what is 'good enough,' which are lessons that only appear at the very end of a project's lifecycle.
• No: Gemini 3.1 Pro highlighted the opportunity cost, noting that the '90/90 rule' means the polishing phase often takes as much effort as the build, making it an inefficient use of free time that could be spent on a new project where growth is actually occurring.