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Nah, these tools will empower programming. Almost no one writes assembly any more. We've got high-powered tools that already abstract away a ton of software eng

Nah, these tools will empower programming. Almost no one writes assembly any more. We've got high-powered tools that already abstract away a ton of software engineering complexity so people can do what they want to do quickly and inexpensively. But I have a very hard time believing that "programming" — the act of writing out precise textual instructions in a file for a computer to read and execute — is going anywhere. It's a very elegant and powerful means of interacting with a machine. Similar to how the written word remains one of the most powerful mechanisms for interpersonal communication despite the massive and powerful media tools at our disposal.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
Someone, somewhere, needs to write requirements. These requirements need to be precise, unambiguous, and complete. The AI could help the requirements writer to “fill in the gaps,” but the main onus is still on the author of the requirements. As mentioned, we don’t program in machine code, anymore. Maybe the result of an AI-assisted construction would be machine code, but it would take an AI to test, debug, and maintain it. I know that every C-Suite denizen has been dreaming of getting rid of “annoying engineers,” for my entire career, but that won’t happen, as those requirements will look a lot like … code … and I guarantee that the C-Suiters will have zero patience for writing it.
- Uehreka 4y ago
  AI will write the requirements. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if AI comes for high cost centers like programming and high information decision-making (the C-Suite) at roughly the same time. We could spend years in a lopsided state where groups of investors fund an AI that operates on an investment thesis, delivers commands to humans who manage physical labor in areas that have been tough to automate (like the remaining Amazon warehouse jobs), and handles on its own all of the work that would normally be done by office employees.
  - kmoser 4y ago
    With any project, the first step is the customer describing their business needs. Analysts turn those requirements into a complete set of specs, then programmers write code that performs the specs. There's no way AI is going to take the place of the customer, since the AI doesn't know what the customer needs, nor will it take the place of the analyst since even the smartest AI can't deal with a customer who is unable to clearly articulate their requirements. Hence the need for human analysts. The AI might be able to help the programmer turn the specs into code (see Copilot) but it will always be hamstrung by not fully understanding (as a human would) the actual requirements.
    - tasuki 4y ago
      With a sufficiently advanced and independent AI, the business need would be "make money", or perhaps hopefully "make money while obeying the laws, acting ethically, and doing something publicly beneficial".
  - gptadmirer 4y ago
    I would love this to happen because finally I can have my own one man paramilitary industry like Tony Stark. Then I just need to procure the right assault weapons. Then I will be (at least my bunker will be) unstoppable. No need to hire mercenaries anymore. Maybe one day it will get even better, that I can have my own attack units like robot dogs/personal tanks equipped with insane amounts of assault weapons and javelins. Then I can mount an attack against anything. A person, an organization, a city, a small government. A true one man army, with AI controlling everything.
    - imtringued 4y ago
      Ok but you will still be small fish compared to nuclear weapons.
    - dinkumthinkum 4y ago
      I’m guessing this is a troll or are you suggesting you would be the only one with this AI? If it’s a troll then great because I think people are leaving their brains out if these conversations about AI / chatgpt.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

Someone, somewhere, needs to write requirements. These requirements need to be precise, unambiguous, and complete. The AI could help the requirements writer to “fill in the gaps,” but the main onus is still on the author of the requirements. As mentioned, we don’t program in machine code, anymore. Maybe the result of an AI-assisted construction would be machine code, but it would take an AI to test, debug, and maintain it. I know that every C-Suite denizen has been dreaming of getting rid of “annoying engineers,” for my entire career, but that won’t happen, as those requirements will look a lot like … code … and I guarantee that the C-Suiters will have zero patience for writing it.

Uehreka 4y ago
AI will write the requirements. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if AI comes for high cost centers like programming and high information decision-making (the C-Suite) at roughly the same time. We could spend years in a lopsided state where groups of investors fund an AI that operates on an investment thesis, delivers commands to humans who manage physical labor in areas that have been tough to automate (like the remaining Amazon warehouse jobs), and handles on its own all of the work that would normally be done by office employees.
- kmoser 4y ago
  With any project, the first step is the customer describing their business needs. Analysts turn those requirements into a complete set of specs, then programmers write code that performs the specs. There's no way AI is going to take the place of the customer, since the AI doesn't know what the customer needs, nor will it take the place of the analyst since even the smartest AI can't deal with a customer who is unable to clearly articulate their requirements. Hence the need for human analysts. The AI might be able to help the programmer turn the specs into code (see Copilot) but it will always be hamstrung by not fully understanding (as a human would) the actual requirements.
  - tasuki 4y ago
    With a sufficiently advanced and independent AI, the business need would be "make money", or perhaps hopefully "make money while obeying the laws, acting ethically, and doing something publicly beneficial".
- gptadmirer 4y ago
  I would love this to happen because finally I can have my own one man paramilitary industry like Tony Stark. Then I just need to procure the right assault weapons. Then I will be (at least my bunker will be) unstoppable. No need to hire mercenaries anymore. Maybe one day it will get even better, that I can have my own attack units like robot dogs/personal tanks equipped with insane amounts of assault weapons and javelins. Then I can mount an attack against anything. A person, an organization, a city, a small government. A true one man army, with AI controlling everything.
  - imtringued 4y ago
    Ok but you will still be small fish compared to nuclear weapons.
  - dinkumthinkum 4y ago
    I’m guessing this is a troll or are you suggesting you would be the only one with this AI? If it’s a troll then great because I think people are leaving their brains out if these conversations about AI / chatgpt.