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They're basing it on what you described in your previous comment. I got the same impression.
Finishing projects makes me sound unprofessional? I've been at it multiple decades. TC $1M+. Forever beginner I guess.
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> Do we think less because we use C++ vs assembly? Less because we use assembly over punching cards? ... Apologists love to make such analogies. "From 30,000 feet, doesn't the new things kinda look like some old thing? Then they're the same and you should accept the new thing!" But the analogies are never apt, and the "argument" is really only one of glossing over the differences. The whole point of AI is for people…
Current "AI" are statistical models, not AGI - that's why you're wrong there. To use them well you still need to know everything - whenever you prompt lazily you're opening yourself up to a fuckton of technical debt. That might be acceptable to some, but is generally a bad idea If it was AGI, you'd be right though...
> That might be acceptable to some, but is generally a bad idea
That's my point: to use them effectively you need to know everything, but to use them heavily puts you in a situation where that knowledge atrophies (e.g. the OP's statement "every time I use AI, I feel like I'm getting a little dumber"). The bosses want the results now, and don't mind if in a few years you're much less capable (and maybe not capable of getting effective results anymore).
If AGI comes soon enough, their bet will have paid off.
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The sheer number of projects I've completed that I truly would never have been able to even make a dent in is evidence enough for me. I don't think research will convince you. You need to either watch someone do it, or experiment with it yourself. Get your hands dirty on an audacious project with Claude code.
It is, at this point, rather suspect that there are mountains of anecdata, but pretty much no high quality quantitive data (and what there is is mixed at best). Fun fact; worldwide, over 200 million people use homeopathy on a regular basis. They think it works. It doesn't work.
Homeopathy works for sure. Placebo works. There are many studies confirming that.
If you want to be a responsible engineer, instead of a nihilist, then you don’t just make a space shuttle and declare it to be safe until it blows up a couple of times and you shrug and move on to other things.
AI tools have serious problems, today. These problems aren’t secret. They are widely discussed. The fanboys laugh or shrug. I can’t bring myself to do that, because I am a responsible adult.
I do make use of Claude Code to create throwaway tools. It’s great for that. In my circle of friends we have a shorthand for discussing our AI-aided work:
level 0: Slop. Untested, barely tried, unreviewed output. “I slop-coded a tool to track RAM usage”
level 1: Plausible. Sanity checked. But not deeply reviewed. “I created a plausible tool with Claude Code for monitoring RAM usage.”
level 2: Provisional. I trust it for use in my own work, based on reasonable testing and review. “I have a provisional RAM usage monitor that I created with Claude Code.”
Level 3: Validated. Tested to the point I can recommend it to others. I stake my reputation on it.
> The engineers refusing to try aren’t protecting themselves; quite the opposite, they’re falling behind. The gap is widening between engineers who’ve integrated these tools and engineers who haven’t. For me, however, there is one issue: how can I utilize AI without degenerating my own abilities? I use AI sparingly because, to be honest, every time I use AI, I feel like I'm getting a little dumber. I fear that excess…