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I feel like I’m taking crazy pills I feel the same way but on the other side. All I see are non-technical or quasi-technical people using AI tools to perform w

by 300bps 4y ago

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills I feel the same way but on the other side. All I see are non-technical or quasi-technical people using AI tools to perform work that is x% better than Google could do. The only entity at risk of being displaced from this technology for the foreseeable future is Google. The only thing left to discern is what % better this technology is than Google’s antiquated algorithms. Think about it for a second. Putting the right query into Google could give similar templated results. This technology is just an evolutionary improvement on that.

throwaway4aday 4y ago
That's just wrong, have you used GPT-4? Last I checked I can't ask Google to invent a new programming language specification for me and get a result in under a minute. I then asked it to write a short tutorial for that language in the style of Learn X in Y minutes and got a good result. I then asked it to write bubble sort in the new language and got a result. Comments like this make me feel like I'm taking crazy pills but really I just know that there are a bunch of lazy curmudgeons out there that can't be bothered to look for themselves.
- 300bps 4y ago
  That's just wrong, have you used GPT-4? Yes. A lot. Last I checked I can't ask Google to invent a new programming language specification for me I have literally never done this in my job. Ever. I've been a professional software developer for multiple decades. I then asked it to write a short tutorial for that language in the style of Learn X in Y minutes So you can't Google, "Tutorial How to Learn X in Y minutes", get a result that has a completely viable format and details and then do the remaining 15% of the work to fill in your specific items? I then asked it to write bubble sort in the new language and got a result Do you know how many times I've written a bubble sort in my actual software profession? The use cases you're bringing up is very typical of what people bring up with GPT-4. Contrived stuff without real-world application or something that is an evolutionary improvement on Google. Overinflated claims of what GPT-4 can do causes real harm to our industry. There are business owners making decisions now based on the smoke and mirror demos that people are showing that has convinced them that they won't need developers in a few years. I literally met with a computer science major who was considering switching majors because of GPT-4. Over the next decade, GPT-4 will be an amazing productivity enhancer for actual software engineers. Just like Google has been but with significant improvements.
  - throwaway4aday 4y ago
    > There are business owners making decisions now based on the smoke and mirror demos that people are showing that has convinced them that they won't need developers in a few years If they aren't doing their due diligence on this then that's their problem. If my example isn't good enough then provide one of your own that you couldn't get to work.
maxdoop 4y ago
While I’m aware of my own mediocre programming skills and by no means claim to be an expert, I’ve been a software engineer for 10+ years and have done pretty well for myself. I’d hope that doesn’t qualify for “quasi-technical”, but maybe you are lucky enough to work on novel problems that require advanced problem solving every day. Regardless, I’d argue that GPT-4 is actually far better at programming assistance, understanding concepts (it’s phenomenal at explaining things when prompted within a context), writing in general, and kick-starting creative pursuits than it is being a Google-replacement (for now, at least). Have you seen or used GPT-4? What has your experience been? What has it failed at, or rather, what would you wish to see in such a system that might make you to, “huh, ok — that is pretty cool.”

by 300bps 4y ago

throwaway4aday 4y ago

That's just wrong, have you used GPT-4? Last I checked I can't ask Google to invent a new programming language specification for me and get a result in under a minute. I then asked it to write a short tutorial for that language in the style of Learn X in Y minutes and got a good result. I then asked it to write bubble sort in the new language and got a result. Comments like this make me feel like I'm taking crazy pills but really I just know that there are a bunch of lazy curmudgeons out there that can't be bothered to look for themselves.

300bps 4y ago
That's just wrong, have you used GPT-4? Yes. A lot. Last I checked I can't ask Google to invent a new programming language specification for me I have literally never done this in my job. Ever. I've been a professional software developer for multiple decades. I then asked it to write a short tutorial for that language in the style of Learn X in Y minutes So you can't Google, "Tutorial How to Learn X in Y minutes", get a result that has a completely viable format and details and then do the remaining 15% of the work to fill in your specific items? I then asked it to write bubble sort in the new language and got a result Do you know how many times I've written a bubble sort in my actual software profession? The use cases you're bringing up is very typical of what people bring up with GPT-4. Contrived stuff without real-world application or something that is an evolutionary improvement on Google. Overinflated claims of what GPT-4 can do causes real harm to our industry. There are business owners making decisions now based on the smoke and mirror demos that people are showing that has convinced them that they won't need developers in a few years. I literally met with a computer science major who was considering switching majors because of GPT-4. Over the next decade, GPT-4 will be an amazing productivity enhancer for actual software engineers. Just like Google has been but with significant improvements.
- throwaway4aday 4y ago
  > There are business owners making decisions now based on the smoke and mirror demos that people are showing that has convinced them that they won't need developers in a few years If they aren't doing their due diligence on this then that's their problem. If my example isn't good enough then provide one of your own that you couldn't get to work.

maxdoop 4y ago

While I’m aware of my own mediocre programming skills and by no means claim to be an expert, I’ve been a software engineer for 10+ years and have done pretty well for myself. I’d hope that doesn’t qualify for “quasi-technical”, but maybe you are lucky enough to work on novel problems that require advanced problem solving every day. Regardless, I’d argue that GPT-4 is actually far better at programming assistance, understanding concepts (it’s phenomenal at explaining things when prompted within a context), writing in general, and kick-starting creative pursuits than it is being a Google-replacement (for now, at least). Have you seen or used GPT-4? What has your experience been? What has it failed at, or rather, what would you wish to see in such a system that might make you to, “huh, ok — that is pretty cool.”