AI makes programming differently difficult
cacm.acm.org
AI makes programming differently difficult
1–10 of 154 posts
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#2It can be both at the same time - easier and different.
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#3It’s the same with writing: AI writing is coherent on the surface, but is impossible to edit because it’s built on no real insight.
Now the sharpening of a coherent point, challenging one’s assumptions, and editorial decisions of what (not) to include are super important because they’re no longer a byproduct of the writing process.
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#4It can be both at the same time - easier and different.
But the thesis of the OP is that it is !easier && different
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#5It can be both at the same time - easier and different.
I think the bigger issue in defining this is that “programming” is too big a task to say whether it got easier or harder.
Some YAML formalities now take zero effort while architectural thinking became way more important and difficult.
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#6It's somehow more tiring, reading complex plans in response to your guidance, and then making decision after decision. Reminds me of this Alan Watts bit...
A farmer who ordered a farmhand quickly discovered he was an extraordinarily efficient worker.
The first day, he put him on sawing logs, and the farmhand sawed more logs than anybody else, ever. It was fantastic — but the wood-cutting work was all done in one day.
So, the next day, the farmer put him onto mending fences. There were all kinds of broken fences around the farm. And, again, the farmhand had all the work done in one day.
So the farmer thought, “What am I going to do with this guy?”
The next day, he took the farmhand to a basement and said, “Look, here all the potatoes that have come in from this harvest. I want you to sort them into three groups: those we sell, those we use for seeding, and those we throw away.”
He left the farmhand to it. And at the end of the day, the laborer came back and said, “Well, that’s enough, mister, I quit.”
“Oh,” the farmer replied, “You can’t quit. I’ve never had such an excellent worker. I’ll raise your salary — I’ll do anything to keep you around me.”
The farmhand said, “No. It’s all right mending fences and chopping wood, but this potato business is decision after decision after decision.”
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#7Quote of the main point in the article:
In other words, the hard part moves from recall (“How do I write this?”) to judgment (“Does this actually make sense?”)
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#8How many times can we have the same discussion.
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#9It's true that there are new skills to acquire (and that those with talents for the old skills may be less talented with the new skills).
It's absolutely not true that it "just" moved the difficulty around. If that were true then I'd be just as well off continuing to use my decades of programming expertise just as I always have; but the reality is I can get more done, and get better work done (depending on level of vibing), than ever before.
Thing is, though, making programming easier doesn't mean programmers will work less hard. That's how competitive markets work. LLMs made programming easier. Capitalism prevents workers from capturing that value.
Re: AI makes programming differently difficult
#10Tackling software architecture is not programming, that is architecture. They're called different things for a reason. It is now easier to write working code via AI. Anyone that can type can do it. The syntax (language) barrier is fully removed. I'm done with syntax, looking up the new right way to do things, etc. It works via prompting. Tell it what to write and it comes out the other end with a working program. That's programming, and that's not an opinion. This alone makes it easier to program.