5 ms·

I don't get this take. My knowledge and engineering has only gone up over time. I read significantly more and higher quality technical information and need to

I don't get this take. My knowledge and engineering has only gone up over time. I read significantly more and higher quality technical information and need to debug problems significantly harder. I think AI will in general make everyone a lot smarter. Maybe the people who use AI as a companion will melt? I'm sure there's some kind of repetitive addiction loop that could melt your brain just like anythibg else though.

Sammi 10mo ago
It's like saying in the 1970s that people would become dumber because of calculators. It's a tool. You can use it lazily and not learn much, or you use it actively as something that propels you further along in your learning.
- y0eswddl 10mo ago
  no, its not - with calculators, it was up to the person using the tool to figure out which formula to use and which values to plug into the calculator. The human has to have enough understanding of the problem to know which math to apply and calculate in the first place. That requires understanding and discernment. This works the brain. This mental work strengthens our problem solving ability. Whereas with AI, you just tell it the problem and it gives an easy answer. Thus involving no further work from the human brain which causes it to atrophy just like any other underused muscle.
  - ggrantrowberry 10mo ago
    Nah. It is the same but at a different scale. You give a calculator a problem and it gives an easy answer thus involving no further work from the human brain which causes it to atrophy just like any other underused muscle. Just like a calculator can easily solve some problems so can AI. Sure the set of problems it can solve is bigger than a calculator. AI just enables you to work on bigger problems because you’re not spending so much time “calculating by hand”. If you delegate all your thinking to AI or you use AI when the point of the activity is to do the activity (ie homework at school) then I think you’ll see problems. Just like using a calculator when you’re supposed to be learning how to add will stunt your growth.
  - shagmin 10mo ago
    What atrophies with calculator usage is an ability to do long form division for example, or arithmetic operations with large numbers in your head for example. The way you describe AI - tell it the problem and get an easy answer sounds identical to anecdotal complaints I've heard like Google search providing an answer to everything means no one has to learn anything, or everyone copying code from stack overflow articles. At the end of the day it's still another tool with pros and cons, tradeoffs, etc., and will be used and misused and abused by different people in different ways.
deepsummer 10mo ago
I understand it. For example, with AI you don't need to remember stuff. Like there is a command in MacOS (two actually) to flush the DNS cache. I used to memorize it because I needed it like twice a week. These days, I can't remember it. I just tell Copilot to flush the cache for me. It knows what to do. And it's like that for many things. Complicated Git commands that I rarely need. I used to remember them at least 50% of the time, and if not, I looked them up. Now I just describe what I need to Copilot. But also APIs that I don't need daily. All that stuff that I used to know is gone, because I don't need to look it up anymore, I just tell Copilot or Claude what to do.
- handoflixue 10mo ago
  Is that really a bad thing? It's like saying Google Maps makes you lazier, because you don't have to learn navigation. And, heck, why stop there: cars are just insanely lazy! You lose all the exercise benefits of walking.
  - danielscrubs 10mo ago
    Yes? It’s all true. It can be good in one axis and bad in another axis.
    - mike_hearn 10mo ago
      Why is losing the ability/interest in navigating through a paper map by hand bad, though? Humanity has adopted and then discarded skills many times in its history. There were once many master archers, nobody outside of one crazy Danish guy has mastered archery for hundreds of years. That isn't bad, nobody cares, nothing of value was lost.
      - kingkongjaffa 10mo ago
        What we call knowledge work is a bit different to archery though. Writing for example is proven to be better done by hand with a pen and paper, people who take typed notes don’t retain as much. AI has accelerated the most simple and obvious answers to easy questions. For more difficult things deep thinking and writing, partly with pen and paper notes and diagrams are still the most effective tools.
DANmode 10mo ago
Not everyone will be made smarter. Just people like you. There are other types.
finnlab 10mo ago
I can only speak from personal experience. But as a 21 Year old, I'd definitely say that AI has made me so much more unproductive and reduced my attention span immensly. My Brain was already fried from social media and now there is always an "easy" way to do annoying but very educational tasks. And amongst my peers, especially those without a background in IT, misunderstanding and anthropomorphising has made this even worse. I think for people who already have great skills, AI will probably be helpful, not harmful. But for my generation, which has been through covid, social media and now has to figure out healthy AI usage, this is a fight already lost.
- johnsmith1840 10mo ago
  Eh, there's literally always something like this being told and doom and gloomed over. When I was 21 I heard almost the identical statement you said. Covid being the exception. The only thing that matters is if YOU care. Do you like software? Do you want to learn and make something that was unatainable to you a year ago? There's also a major difference between college and work so you shouldn't sweat it so much.
alecco 10mo ago
Both are right. The chasm between proactive vs lazy people is growing exponentially. I predict it will bring a lot of drama.
SamaraMichi 10mo ago
Have you considered that you are a minority who leverages LLMs for your own personal gain? The parent is referring more to the general population who is already doomscrolling away and would LOVE a service that generates prompts for them due to the hassle this represents for them.

Sammi 10mo ago

It's like saying in the 1970s that people would become dumber because of calculators. It's a tool. You can use it lazily and not learn much, or you use it actively as something that propels you further along in your learning.

y0eswddl 10mo ago
no, its not - with calculators, it was up to the person using the tool to figure out which formula to use and which values to plug into the calculator. The human has to have enough understanding of the problem to know which math to apply and calculate in the first place. That requires understanding and discernment. This works the brain. This mental work strengthens our problem solving ability. Whereas with AI, you just tell it the problem and it gives an easy answer. Thus involving no further work from the human brain which causes it to atrophy just like any other underused muscle.
- ggrantrowberry 10mo ago
  Nah. It is the same but at a different scale. You give a calculator a problem and it gives an easy answer thus involving no further work from the human brain which causes it to atrophy just like any other underused muscle. Just like a calculator can easily solve some problems so can AI. Sure the set of problems it can solve is bigger than a calculator. AI just enables you to work on bigger problems because you’re not spending so much time “calculating by hand”. If you delegate all your thinking to AI or you use AI when the point of the activity is to do the activity (ie homework at school) then I think you’ll see problems. Just like using a calculator when you’re supposed to be learning how to add will stunt your growth.
- shagmin 10mo ago
  What atrophies with calculator usage is an ability to do long form division for example, or arithmetic operations with large numbers in your head for example. The way you describe AI - tell it the problem and get an easy answer sounds identical to anecdotal complaints I've heard like Google search providing an answer to everything means no one has to learn anything, or everyone copying code from stack overflow articles. At the end of the day it's still another tool with pros and cons, tradeoffs, etc., and will be used and misused and abused by different people in different ways.

deepsummer 10mo ago

I understand it. For example, with AI you don't need to remember stuff. Like there is a command in MacOS (two actually) to flush the DNS cache. I used to memorize it because I needed it like twice a week. These days, I can't remember it. I just tell Copilot to flush the cache for me. It knows what to do. And it's like that for many things. Complicated Git commands that I rarely need. I used to remember them at least 50% of the time, and if not, I looked them up. Now I just describe what I need to Copilot. But also APIs that I don't need daily. All that stuff that I used to know is gone, because I don't need to look it up anymore, I just tell Copilot or Claude what to do.

handoflixue 10mo ago
Is that really a bad thing? It's like saying Google Maps makes you lazier, because you don't have to learn navigation. And, heck, why stop there: cars are just insanely lazy! You lose all the exercise benefits of walking.
- danielscrubs 10mo ago
  Yes? It’s all true. It can be good in one axis and bad in another axis.
  - mike_hearn 10mo ago
    Why is losing the ability/interest in navigating through a paper map by hand bad, though? Humanity has adopted and then discarded skills many times in its history. There were once many master archers, nobody outside of one crazy Danish guy has mastered archery for hundreds of years. That isn't bad, nobody cares, nothing of value was lost.
    - kingkongjaffa 10mo ago
      What we call knowledge work is a bit different to archery though. Writing for example is proven to be better done by hand with a pen and paper, people who take typed notes don’t retain as much. AI has accelerated the most simple and obvious answers to easy questions. For more difficult things deep thinking and writing, partly with pen and paper notes and diagrams are still the most effective tools.

DANmode 10mo ago

Not everyone will be made smarter. Just people like you. There are other types.

finnlab 10mo ago

I can only speak from personal experience. But as a 21 Year old, I'd definitely say that AI has made me so much more unproductive and reduced my attention span immensly. My Brain was already fried from social media and now there is always an "easy" way to do annoying but very educational tasks. And amongst my peers, especially those without a background in IT, misunderstanding and anthropomorphising has made this even worse. I think for people who already have great skills, AI will probably be helpful, not harmful. But for my generation, which has been through covid, social media and now has to figure out healthy AI usage, this is a fight already lost.

johnsmith1840 10mo ago
Eh, there's literally always something like this being told and doom and gloomed over. When I was 21 I heard almost the identical statement you said. Covid being the exception. The only thing that matters is if YOU care. Do you like software? Do you want to learn and make something that was unatainable to you a year ago? There's also a major difference between college and work so you shouldn't sweat it so much.

alecco 10mo ago

Both are right. The chasm between proactive vs lazy people is growing exponentially. I predict it will bring a lot of drama.

SamaraMichi 10mo ago

Have you considered that you are a minority who leverages LLMs for your own personal gain? The parent is referring more to the general population who is already doomscrolling away and would LOVE a service that generates prompts for them due to the hassle this represents for them.