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The replies here are defensive and I think misguided. Yes, a programming job doesn’t solely require typing code. But the reason we have well-paid programming jo

The replies here are defensive and I think misguided. Yes, a programming job doesn’t solely require typing code. But the reason we have well-paid programming jobs is because there is a specialized skillset required to understand a body of syntax that takes several years to really grasp. The difference is that writing a well-formed prompt is massively easier to teach than writing the code itself, for similar results. That’s not to say prompt writing requires no skill - it will certainly need understanding of systems and the scope of what is possible within a language. Asking GPT-4 to write a jQuery plug-in that generates an original Bob Dylan song will probably just not work. But it is wildly easier to teach someone what is possible with JavasScript and let them spend a month watching someone prompt the system and let them go from there.

danparsonson 4y ago
The most challenging part of software development (and the reason we have well-paying jobs) is not understanding syntax, it's analysing and abstracting a problem domain into a set of cleanly separated modules that interact to solve those problems. That being the case then, actually none of us is getting replaced by GPT-n any time soon - 'prompt engineering' will just become the new Javascript, only more abstract; just another tool in the toolbox. Hopefully :-)
- gumballindie 4y ago
  Correct. But once everyone has that tool in their toolbox everyone will become more productive, meaning skills scarcity will be greatly reduced. In turn that will lead to massive wage depression.
  - danparsonson 4y ago
    You mean such as when high level languages became mainstream and we no longer needed to code in assembly language? Or when IDEs became widely available? The underlying design skills are still difficult to acquire and not displaced by new tools - that is at least until SoftwareArchitectGPT comes along...

danparsonson 4y ago

The most challenging part of software development (and the reason we have well-paying jobs) is not understanding syntax, it's analysing and abstracting a problem domain into a set of cleanly separated modules that interact to solve those problems. That being the case then, actually none of us is getting replaced by GPT-n any time soon - 'prompt engineering' will just become the new Javascript, only more abstract; just another tool in the toolbox. Hopefully :-)

gumballindie 4y ago
Correct. But once everyone has that tool in their toolbox everyone will become more productive, meaning skills scarcity will be greatly reduced. In turn that will lead to massive wage depression.
- danparsonson 4y ago
  You mean such as when high level languages became mainstream and we no longer needed to code in assembly language? Or when IDEs became widely available? The underlying design skills are still difficult to acquire and not displaced by new tools - that is at least until SoftwareArchitectGPT comes along...