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Chat GPT is simply amazing, it feels like Google with super powers. I think it can boost productivity by a considerable amount. It makes a perfect peer programm

by y04nn 4y ago

Chat GPT is simply amazing, it feels like Google with super powers. I think it can boost productivity by a considerable amount. It makes a perfect peer programmer, giving you sample code with first class comments explaining the generated code, sometimes with minor errors to make it compile. You can even ask it to explain some specific part of the code. It's also like having a secretary or an assistant available 24/7 with a never seen productivity. It probably feels like when first mechanical computers where built and people thinking "How can it compute the right answer so fast?".

Smaug123 4y ago
You've… really got the right answers from it? I've only ever asked it a couple of really basic (non-trick! straightforward!) questions about how to accomplish tasks by programming, but it bullshitted me some very plausible nonsense. Once bitten, twice shy. If it were capable of saying "I can't answer that question" reliably (which I've spent some time trying and failing to make it do, in general), it might actually be useful.
- y04nn 4y ago
  It happened to me once, it generates a plausible answer when it doesn't know (tried to generate a Nix script with Erlang). But I have used it to generate examples code in Haskell, and it was quite good, probably because Haskell libraries have excellent online documentation. It's much faster than reading the doc of the library.
  - doodlesdev 4y ago
    When it generates bullshit answers just call him out and it will try another way to do it. Tell it specifically what doesn't make sense and it will fix it.
    - Smaug123 4y ago
      That does assume you can quickly and easily tell when it's bullshitting, which it's not always easy to do. As a way of learning new stuff, I'd strongly disrecommend it (because "when you're learning" is precisely when you're least able to identify the bullshit), although perhaps it's not the worst thing in the world if you're already an expert.
dinkumthinkum 4y ago
But wouldn’t Google with super powers produce correct answers to basic questions, though? I mean, really. It’s clear very helpful at surface things for which there is a large corpus of examples, to some extent. I don’t really know if it’s “good” or if it is just surprising.

by y04nn 4y ago

Smaug123 4y ago

You've… really got the right answers from it? I've only ever asked it a couple of really basic (non-trick! straightforward!) questions about how to accomplish tasks by programming, but it bullshitted me some very plausible nonsense. Once bitten, twice shy. If it were capable of saying "I can't answer that question" reliably (which I've spent some time trying and failing to make it do, in general), it might actually be useful.

y04nn 4y ago
It happened to me once, it generates a plausible answer when it doesn't know (tried to generate a Nix script with Erlang). But I have used it to generate examples code in Haskell, and it was quite good, probably because Haskell libraries have excellent online documentation. It's much faster than reading the doc of the library.
- doodlesdev 4y ago
  When it generates bullshit answers just call him out and it will try another way to do it. Tell it specifically what doesn't make sense and it will fix it.
  - Smaug123 4y ago
    That does assume you can quickly and easily tell when it's bullshitting, which it's not always easy to do. As a way of learning new stuff, I'd strongly disrecommend it (because "when you're learning" is precisely when you're least able to identify the bullshit), although perhaps it's not the worst thing in the world if you're already an expert.

dinkumthinkum 4y ago

But wouldn’t Google with super powers produce correct answers to basic questions, though? I mean, really. It’s clear very helpful at surface things for which there is a large corpus of examples, to some extent. I don’t really know if it’s “good” or if it is just surprising.