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You should probably rely less on AI. If your first thought is "I need to delete some directories" and your immediate next thought is "I'd better ask an AI agent
by WolfeReader 9mo ago
You should probably rely less on AI. If your first thought is "I need to delete some directories" and your immediate next thought is "I'd better ask an AI agent to do this for me", you are definitely exhibiting skill entropy.
- thrdbndndn 9mo agoWhat is "skill entropy"
- intev 9mo agoThey think it's a smart way to say that the o.p. is dumb.
- WolfeReader 9mo agoNope, skill atrophy can affect anyone at any level.
- itemize123 9mo agoatrophy?
- AdieuToLogic 9mo ago> What is "skill entropy" Skill entropy is a result of reliance on tools to perform tasks which otherwise would contribute to and/or reinforce a person's ability to master same. Without exercising one's acquired learning, skills can quickly fade. For example, an argument can be made that spellcheckers commonly available in programs degrade people's ability to spell correctly without this assistance (such as when using pen and paper).
- WolfeReader 9mo agoI did mean "atrophy" as others mentioned.
- RogerL 9mo agoClaude does these things even though you have explicit instructions not to do them, this isn't a tool for you asking it to delete files. Just today Claude decided to do a git restore on me, blowing away local changes, despite having strict instructions to do nothing with git except to use it to look at history and branches. Why jump to the conclusion that the person is so incompetent with no evidence?
- intev 9mo agoBecause there's now a class of programmers who are very anti AI when it comes to coding because they think anybody who relies on it are degenerate vibe coders who have no idea what they are doing. You can see this in pretty much every single HN post w.r.t AI and coding.
- WolfeReader 9mo agoThere is indeed a class of programmers who think AI over-reliance will make us worse. And there should be, because it's true. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/1/6 https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/1/6 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4812513 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4812513
- blackqueeriroh 9mo agoDid you even read the abstracts of these papers? The first one has four important phrases: “negative correlation,” “mediated by increased cognitive offloading,” “higher educational attainment was associated with better critical thinking skills, regardless of AI usage,” and “potential costs.” The second paper has two: “students using GenAI tools score on average 6.71 (out of 100) points lower than non-users,” and “suggesting an effect whereby GenAI tool usage hinders learning.” I ask you, sir, where exactly do you get “AI over-reliance will make us worse…because it’s true” from TWO studies that go out of their way to make it clear there is no causative link, only correlation, point out significant mediations of the effect, identify only potentiality, and also show only half a letter grade difference, which when you’re dealing with students could be down to all sorts of things. Not to mention we’re dealing with one preprint and some truly confounding study design. If you don’t understand research methods, please stop presenting papers as if they are empirical authorities on truth. It diminishes trust in real academic work.
- joshribakoff 9mo agoThanks for framing my physical disability as a skill issue. Injuries i sustained developing my skills beyond what most others were willing to do, but i guess my use of AI to assist my input so i can continue developing totally erases that experience.
- WolfeReader 9mo agoI can see that my comment about disabled users really got under your skin. How fortunate, then, that I never actually made such a comment.