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Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

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Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#141

Post by olalonde »

stephendause wrote: post #78
immortalloom wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea! That kinda works, except that libraries, frameworks, and paradigms evolve so rapidly in the web, often times you need to rebuild it anyways. I also want to be more supportive of junior developers. Second can help scaffold and get large chunks of standard code in place for them to build on, rather than starting with empty files. This is especially useful when adding a new feature to an existing web application (i…

> libraries, frameworks, and paradigms evolve so rapidly in the web Speaking of that issue, wasn't GPT-3 trained with data that doesn't go past 2021? Won't this be an issue for any AI assistant using GPT-3 to write code?

I think OpenAI plans to continuously update ChatGPT (aka "gpt-3.5-turbo") but I don't think it has done so yet.

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#142

Post by Eric_BB »

immortalloom wrote: post #140
Eric_BB wrote: post #139

Congratulations on the launch! Your app made me excited, although I don't believe I am the target audience. I am a graduate student, I have experience with Python and have built some simple websites using Django, Alpine, HTMX, and Tailwind. I have a few days off and would like to build some projects quickly. Does anyone have any recommendations, ideas, guides, or examples on how I can leverage ChatGPT to build quickl…

Thanks! One thing that I've been learning is that a handful of developers I know are integrating ChatGPT into their workflows more and more. 1) Use ChatGPT to generate small blobs of code 2) tweak it and integrate it 3) repeat Interestingly, this is very similar to how Second operates as well – but the tweaking and integrating is automated.

Thanks!

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#143

Post by immortalloom »

swyx wrote: post #117
immortalloom wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great question! So all of the files are generated with either compiles or GPT-3, or if the files already exist on the repo and need to be modified, the bots use GPT-3 code edits to modify the files. $299/project/month will sound expensive if you compare it to starter kits (usually free), templates (usually Also, yea pricing is hard! It may change.

you forgot one alternative - chatgpt, which is $20/month and infinitely flexible

True, but it's still work. Using ChatGPT manually is great, but it's not as fast as configuring a feature and then having the whole thing built and integrated. A lot of users also struggle with knowing what to even ask ChatGPT, unless they are already an experienced developer.

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#144

Post by immortalloom »

swyx wrote: post #118
immortalloom wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. LOL! Sorry! Volume is tricky to get right. I'll fix this with my next video. 2. Agree 100%! Second bots are becoming more sophisticated, but the truth is I am still pretty early. The video on this post, and on the website, is actually about a month old. I had planned on making an updated video with more interesting scenarios, but I ran out of time! I will have an updated video within the next two weeks. I also nee…

nah man fix the video now you are on hn front page and it takes you all of 5 mins to record a loom

Lol you're not wrong. BUT I do want to take my time with the video. I might be slower than you – it would probably take me an hour+ to tweak it, and find a better song.

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#145

Post by immortalloom »

dzonga wrote: post #82

excellent resume, and congrats on the launch. however, i'm bearish on AI tools not cz i'm vested as a software dev / eng. but because we can't make software that work. if humans with massive processing power compared to AI can't make software that works. AI produced software will even be worse. right now Software from the big companies - Google, Microsoft, Apple etc is a mess. and these firms spend a lot on engineeri…

Thanks! You're not wrong. A.I. is nothing more than an extension of our collective minds. If our collective minds are messy, the A.I. results will be messy as well.

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#146

Post by immortalloom »

dgwight wrote: post #133

Working with someone else’s code is always slower. As a mostly solo developer, I’m curious if a tool like this could speed me up vs writing code myself and using code I’ve written in the past. I think even in with a small team, specific devs can have complete ownership over different chunks of code. Having AI write a chunk of your codebase may be kinda like having someone else write it, but then leave the project. Pl…

Agreed, we shall see! I empathize with what you are saying, because personally I am very slow to understand other people's code.

But, because Second builds commodity features, everything is so vanilla that it's actually pretty easy to understand. No weird anti-patterns or anything.

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#147

Post by immortalloom »

maxchaplin2000 wrote: post #129

The future of software development is, I think, a collaboration between human developers and AI bots, where bots can build large volumes of code and human developers can use AI code assistants to make low-level changes or additions, but the AI is a tool to enhance human developers ability, leading to better products. I think it'll bridge the gap between low level and high level engineers dramatically. AI is a tool, l…

yea!

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#148

Post by immortalloom »

ar9av wrote: post #64

Wow, this sounds really interesting! I'm curious, how does Second determine what features to add to an existing web application? Is there a way to customize the bot's behavior to suit specific needs? Also, what kind of applications can Second generate? Is it limited to certain types of web applications, or can it handle a wide range of projects?

So the Second UI is based on feature modules. You, the human, choose a feature to add. You configure it and then press "Commit Code" or "Raise PR". You can customize in two ways:

1) I can add more configuration options to the modules 2) you can tweak the results with code! After all, the generated code is yours to keep!

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#149

Post by immortalloom »

frankcort wrote: post #74

Can it upgrade my Rails 4.2 app to Rails 5? That’s a serious question, but also makes me wonder how maintaining AI generated apps will work in the future?

Yea, this is one of the capabilities I want to support. Auto upgrades. I am very confident it is possible, but it will be later on in my roadmap. Right now, most users and customers are interested in speeding up feature development vs. one time upgrades. But I'm with you!

Re: Launch HN: Second (YC W23) – AI bots that add features to web apps

#150

Post by Denzel »

skilled wrote: post #59

No offense but that demo video is pathetic not to mention the weird background music. Actually, I think the entire thing is way too rushed and you haven't thought this through at all. Are you seriously so desperate to ride this stupid AI hype that you couldn't do a better job at showcasing what the app can actually do? I am sorry for being so critical, but I believe I am right. With a free account, you can do like tw…

> I am sorry for being so critical

You should apologize for being disrespectful. There's no reason to attack the founder personally with words like: pathetic, desperate, or insulting their critical thinking by saying "you haven't thought this through at all." You can write an equally critical comment without the vitrol.

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