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I do algo trading and you wouldn't believe the number of people that show up with ChatGPT generated code, asking if it will "work." The answer is always "no."

by robswc 4y ago

I do algo trading and you wouldn't believe the number of people that show up with ChatGPT generated code, asking if it will "work." The answer is always "no." I love ChatGPT but I didn't realize how many people _don't_ realize it's strengths and weaknesses. It's been amazing for generating boilerplate and small functions (you _do_ have to double check these as they can be confidently incorrect) but I still find it fits well into the workflow. But yea... I am really at a loss as to why and where these people come from. They don't seem terribly proficient in programming/computing because they don't seem to even realize the output is BS for the context. Could it be kids/young adults?

ShamelessC 4y ago
Everybody has to start somewhere. Motivation for coding isn’t intrinsic from a young age for many. Sounds exciting to me.
- robswc 4y ago
  Oh yea. I mean, I was on tech forums chatting as a 13 year old and looking back, I _know_ so many people realized my questions were just ridiculous or dumb lol. I'm just wondering if that must be where the this is coming from. As an example, I wouldn't log onto a random geology forum (a topic I don't understand well) and start pasting in ChatGPT responses. Whether that's because I'm an adult or because I understand the limits of ChatGPT (maybe both?) is debatable I guess... but my "napkin theory" is that younger people are behind a lot of the ChatGPT "spam."
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    Just work at any non-tech corporation doing coding. Lots of people hustling with zero motivation to progress as a principled engineer. I agree about the nature of the interaction being more annoying than I thought.
- sph 4y ago
  A newbie asking a dumb question is completely different than a person, whatever their skill, copy pasting a generated GPT response and asking "will this work?" In the first case there is thought, curiosity and intelligence, but a marked lack of experience. In the second there is just the ability to type and copy paste, no thinking necessary. I always have time for a new programmer asking me why their fizzbuzz function doesn't work, but if you have asked GPT to write it for you, and ask me why it doesn't work, you can go waste someone else's time. Doing so, without even disclosing it's AI generated is even worse in my book. I must be an outlier, but I do not understand this naive and laissez-faire approach many tech workers seem to have with GPT and the social ramifications it creates.
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    I don’t like it, but I do understand it - and it’s been going on since before GPT3. Coding is a lucrative profession with a (lasting) labor shortage. As such, it has become a “generic career track” for many who aren’t well suited for it, and even (especially?) grifters.
  - MaxikCZ 4y ago
    I understand and not disagree completely, but from my childhood, finding a snippet of code and racionalizing about its function/applicability to my problem was one way to learn coding. All ChatGPT does is generate snippets that actually touch the area of my interest, and I dont have to scourge half the internet for it (altho that brings its own sets of positive effects in itself). Maybe its possible your disdain is actually towards "get rich quick for no work" mentality, instead of people using ChatGPT to form code and ask opinions on it in general?
noitpmeder 4y ago
Just curious, who is actually "showing up"? I find it hard to imagine any software engineer or financial professional already in the industry would think an AI snippet was worth any serious consideration for trading. Are these just new grads or students you're encountering in interviews or other online sites?

by robswc 4y ago

ShamelessC 4y ago

Everybody has to start somewhere. Motivation for coding isn’t intrinsic from a young age for many. Sounds exciting to me.

robswc 4y ago
Oh yea. I mean, I was on tech forums chatting as a 13 year old and looking back, I _know_ so many people realized my questions were just ridiculous or dumb lol. I'm just wondering if that must be where the this is coming from. As an example, I wouldn't log onto a random geology forum (a topic I don't understand well) and start pasting in ChatGPT responses. Whether that's because I'm an adult or because I understand the limits of ChatGPT (maybe both?) is debatable I guess... but my "napkin theory" is that younger people are behind a lot of the ChatGPT "spam."
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  Just work at any non-tech corporation doing coding. Lots of people hustling with zero motivation to progress as a principled engineer. I agree about the nature of the interaction being more annoying than I thought.
sph 4y ago
A newbie asking a dumb question is completely different than a person, whatever their skill, copy pasting a generated GPT response and asking "will this work?" In the first case there is thought, curiosity and intelligence, but a marked lack of experience. In the second there is just the ability to type and copy paste, no thinking necessary. I always have time for a new programmer asking me why their fizzbuzz function doesn't work, but if you have asked GPT to write it for you, and ask me why it doesn't work, you can go waste someone else's time. Doing so, without even disclosing it's AI generated is even worse in my book. I must be an outlier, but I do not understand this naive and laissez-faire approach many tech workers seem to have with GPT and the social ramifications it creates.
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  I don’t like it, but I do understand it - and it’s been going on since before GPT3. Coding is a lucrative profession with a (lasting) labor shortage. As such, it has become a “generic career track” for many who aren’t well suited for it, and even (especially?) grifters.
- MaxikCZ 4y ago
  I understand and not disagree completely, but from my childhood, finding a snippet of code and racionalizing about its function/applicability to my problem was one way to learn coding. All ChatGPT does is generate snippets that actually touch the area of my interest, and I dont have to scourge half the internet for it (altho that brings its own sets of positive effects in itself). Maybe its possible your disdain is actually towards "get rich quick for no work" mentality, instead of people using ChatGPT to form code and ask opinions on it in general?

noitpmeder 4y ago

Just curious, who is actually "showing up"? I find it hard to imagine any software engineer or financial professional already in the industry would think an AI snippet was worth any serious consideration for trading. Are these just new grads or students you're encountering in interviews or other online sites?