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AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

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91–100 of 232 posts

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#91
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think software engineering will just go up the stack to requirements engineering. Those requirements will be specified as tests or in a very high level language that doesn't allow for ambiguous meanings. Which is essentially another programming language just more high level.

I agree, and I’m thrilled about it. I love programming but while I’ve had bouts of enjoyment coding “in the small”, it’s my least favorite part. I love systems and software architecture, and seeing things come to life above all else. ChatGPT is greatly improving my enjoyment of it all. I also doubt traditional programming languages are going anywhere in the short term, seeing there are trillions of lines of code for…

> I love programming but while I’ve had bouts of enjoyment coding “in the small”, it’s my least favorite part.

Yes, okay, but what will happen to junior to mid level engineers? In many companies these levels can't even have an influence on architecture.

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#92
IT industry "we cannot use formal methods to create software out of programmable constraints, it would use too much computational power"

also IT industry: "it takes 1T flop to compute each token of this program and the result is so unstable that to converge it we need layer and layer of controls over each token group, also obtained by asking the same 1T parameter model."

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#93
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI doesn't seem like it's able to automate software development yet. It's not autonomous enough. The examples shown in the paper are toys. It might become more capable after training LLMs against code execution, to iterate based on feedback, because that way of generating training data is scalable. But strangely I haven't seen much progress yet. Another domain where I expect to see lots of progress but nothing shows…

Forget the question of full automation. Think about the percentage increase in productivity, meaning companies can fire lots of people without impacting output. Obviously companies can also choose to keep the same number of people and simply produce more. But not all will.

It doesn't mean that companies "can fire lots of people without impacting output". It just means we're going to produce more instead of working less. Competition will raise the bar in affordability, quality and novelty. That means everyone is going to compete on a different level. Working like it's still 2020 won't cut it anymore.

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#95
post #84

Imagine we had this technology 20 years ago and we switched to fully automated web design. I bet all web design would still be deeply nested tables. I doubt that something like React, Vue, Svelte would exist.

I mean.. that kinda sells AI in everything for me, but then I am a statist.

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Most dev jobs are mostly repetitive plumbing Those jobs should go away. Basically, the elimination of anything boring is ultimately a net good for humanity.

Only if you provide an alternative way for the newly unemployed to earn a living. Otherwise you just get crime, hunger and eventually war.

When you consider how early we are in the evolution of software and the role it can play in our professional and personal lives, this seems like one of the easier problems to solve though.

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#99

Why are technologists trying so hard to make themselves redundant? This is like the Luddites themselves creating milling machines, eager for the foreman to show them the door. What gives?

They're absolutely transfixed by the "wow cool robot" effect.

Re: AutoDev: Automated AI-driven development by Microsoft

#100
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget the question of full automation. Think about the percentage increase in productivity, meaning companies can fire lots of people without impacting output. Obviously companies can also choose to keep the same number of people and simply produce more. But not all will.

It doesn't mean that companies "can fire lots of people without impacting output". It just means we're going to produce more instead of working less. Competition will raise the bar in affordability, quality and novelty. That means everyone is going to compete on a different level. Working like it's still 2020 won't cut it anymore.

That's what I said was one of the possibilities. But it is not the only possibility, and it will become less likely over time. Eventually the lift operators and steam engine dudes get deprecated. More trains are running, but the steam engine dudes got fired because they're not needed. Maybe you'll be the first non-customer facing profession in history that doesn't go through deprecation in the face of automation. Good luck with that bet.
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