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> This reliance on readily available solutions, particularly for familiar problems, creates a real risk: engineers may inadvertently atrophy their own problem-s
by exitb 9mo ago
> This reliance on readily available solutions, particularly for familiar problems, creates a real risk: engineers may inadvertently atrophy their own problem-solving skills, hindering their ability to tackle truly novel challenges.
Yes, that will happen. But it also happens every time we move up the abstraction ladder. Most engineers go through their entire careers and never do anything TRULY novel.
- tjr 9mo agoAgreed, most engineers never do anything truly novel. But the few who did, brought much value to everyone else. I think the new question here is, if the new status quo is to offload your creative thinking to LLMs, will now any engineers do anything truly novel? If you're not engaging your mind to create and think on a day-to-day basis, will you be in position to have some new insight?
- sowbug 9mo agoIt's helpful to distinguish problem solving from creative thinking. The main goal of problem solving is to make a problem go away. The main goal of creative thinking is to come up with new problems to solve. Some also call this convergent vs. divergent thinking. When I want to think creatively but need to solve problems that feel more like housekeeping or toil, LLMs are a useful tool to stay in the right mindset. I have yet to successfully engage with an LLM to help with creative thought. All I've gotten is uninspiring brainstorming.