3 ms·
> Do you remember how people on HN used to take comfort that AI couldn't write code? Now they're taking comfort in the fact that AI can't write code well. No,
by saurik 4y ago
> Do you remember how people on HN used to take comfort that AI couldn't write code? Now they're taking comfort in the fact that AI can't write code well.
No, actually: I am 40, and I don't remember that ever being the case. We could have computers write code back 20 years ago, at least... we've had automated scaffolding, pattern extrapolation, contract generation from test cases, random forests designed to approximate unknown algorithms; the code just wasn't good or useful or some other non-boolean axis, and that is exactly the debate we are having today, despite some clear expansions in the scope of practical applicability.
- MontyCarloHall 4y agoYes, exactly. The fundamental problem with computer-generated code is that it’s almost always harder to read code than to write code [0], so making programming involve less writing code and more reading code actually makes the job more difficult. [0] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-...
- Hedepig 4y agoFor now
- qualudeheart 4y agoProgram synthesis has been around for decades. To make a program synthesizer that can economically compete with humans is the hard part.