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Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

#12

Post by laputan_machine »

varispeed wrote: post #6
Swizec wrote: post #3

How to survive in an AI world? Shift your mindset from “I write code” to “I deliver value”. Now instead of AI replacing you, it’s helping you get more done (in theory). Everyone wins. Staking your career on being a pair of hired hands that executes somebody else’s exacting specifications was always a long-term losing proposition. And we are very very far away from AI being able to ask the right questions to help busi…

I also find it bizarre that so many people feel precious about the code. They have too much ego attached to what they type in and the AI kind of make them feel insecure. I couldn't care less if I write the code, the AI or someone I told to write it. What matters is the value it provides.

> I also find it bizarre that so many people feel precious about the code.

Would you find it bizarre that a joiner feels precious about not just the cabinet they made (value), but how they made it? The joints they used, the process they went through, the wood (i.e., the code)?

A plumber, electrician, architect, designer, programmer -- we take pride in our skills.

Craftmanship is a virtue, not a vice.

Re: Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

#13

Post by currant_ »

varispeed wrote: post #6
Swizec wrote: post #3

How to survive in an AI world? Shift your mindset from “I write code” to “I deliver value”. Now instead of AI replacing you, it’s helping you get more done (in theory). Everyone wins. Staking your career on being a pair of hired hands that executes somebody else’s exacting specifications was always a long-term losing proposition. And we are very very far away from AI being able to ask the right questions to help busi…

I also find it bizarre that so many people feel precious about the code. They have too much ego attached to what they type in and the AI kind of make them feel insecure. I couldn't care less if I write the code, the AI or someone I told to write it. What matters is the value it provides.

I feel like there’s probably an unspoken division between people who enjoy building systems (providing value in your terms) and people who enjoy more of the detailed coding. The later group had a good thing going where they were extremely well compensated for doing an activity they enjoyed, so I think it make sense for them to be a bit distressed.

Re: Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

#15

Post by medler »

I use LLM-based autocomplete in my IDE, and it’s not taking away my job unless/until it improves by multiple orders of magnitude. It’s good at filling in boilerplate, but even for that I have to carefully check its output because it can make little errors even when I feel like what I want should be obvious. The article is absolutely correct in saying you have to be critical of its output.

I would say it improves my productivity by maybe 5%, which is an incredible achievement. I’m already getting to where coding without it feels very tedious.

Re: Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

#17

Post by omgmajk »

varispeed wrote: post #4
omgmajk wrote: post #2

> Software engineers should be critical of the outputs of large language models, as they tend to hallucinate and produce inaccurate or incorrect code. This seems to be the case more than not for certain tasks, anything assembler or C I have ever asked it has turned out to be at least somewhat wrong. Mixing styles and syntax all over the place. I am not afraid that some generative AI will take my job anytime soon.

These things are a matter of writing a correct prompt. Like "use this and that naming convention for variables and keep this and that style". You can also ask it to write tests for the code so you can verify it is working or add your own additional tests. Even if the produced code is wrong, it usually takes a few steps to correct it and still saves time. It is an amazing tool and time saver if you know what you are d…

The question is, do you actually save time by coaxing the language model into an answer or would you just save time by writing it yourself?

I have this friend who gets obsessed with things very easily and ChatGPT got to him quite a bit. He spent about two months perfecting his AI persona and starts every chat with several hundred words of directions before asking any questions. I find that this also produces the wrong answers many times.

Re: Tips for programmers to stay ahead of generative AI

#18

Post by AnimalMuppet »

varispeed wrote: post #6
Swizec wrote: post #3

How to survive in an AI world? Shift your mindset from “I write code” to “I deliver value”. Now instead of AI replacing you, it’s helping you get more done (in theory). Everyone wins. Staking your career on being a pair of hired hands that executes somebody else’s exacting specifications was always a long-term losing proposition. And we are very very far away from AI being able to ask the right questions to help busi…

I also find it bizarre that so many people feel precious about the code. They have too much ego attached to what they type in and the AI kind of make them feel insecure. I couldn't care less if I write the code, the AI or someone I told to write it. What matters is the value it provides.

When assemblers were introduced, there were programmers who complained, because it ruined the intimacy of their communication with the computer that they had with octal.

They meant it, too. Noticing that the "or" instruction differed only by one bit from the "subtract" instruction told you something about the probable inner workings of the CPU. It just turned out that it didn't matter - knowing that level of detail didn't help you write code nearly as much as it helped to be able to say "OR" instead of "032".

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