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No AI Fridays

noaifridays.com

171–180 of 226 posts

Re: No AI Fridays

#171
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a well known phenomenon people called ‘tutorial hell’ where when learning to program you could understand all the code from tutorials, but when it came time to actually create your own solutions for stuff you got stuck. I think AI is basically enabling eternal tutorial hell, you never actually need to break out of it anymore.

Same thing happens when you're learning a (human) language.

Yeah it shows up in all learning really. Putting theory in to practice is a crucial component of learning.

Re: No AI Fridays

#172

The problem with this site is that the studies it cites don't match the conclusions it draws. "Accumulate cognitive debt": The paper is a preprint, isn't peer reviewed, and has already had a rather blistering critique ( https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00856 ) that raises concerns about sample size, reproducibility of the analyses, EEG methodology, inconsistent reporting, and transparency. Also the fact that they infer EEG…

I was personally flabbergasted by this one:

> When we offload decision-making, we become unaware of the trade-offs.

My biggest issue with the new agentic workflow is that I'm constantly asked to make decisions, and it is not always immediately obvious how important they are. Like, yes, I see the people who just write 'implement feature x' and then call it a day. These people were lazy und uncreative to begin with, and will continue to cognitively decline with AI. But if you use it seriously, you're in a constant state of doing requirements engineering, weighing trade-offs, and making architecture decisions.

Re: No AI Fridays

#173

At the very least, I do encourage people who are working on personal projects for explicitly learning and studying purposes to purposefully not use AI. Of course, if the purpose of the project is to learn AI, then that rule is allowed to be broken. Anecdotal example but I know plenty of students (Including my own brother) who graduated recently who did it almost entirely with AI (unfortunately at the request of their…

Universities are the type of place you would automatically expect to teach the fundamentals. They do it in every other subject. You should have "coding like a caveman" back to back with "coding like a spaceman". You can make the hand coded class have two 1.5hr in-person labs each week. With an AI class along side of it. Don't wait on either skill, both need to start freshman year.

First year AI is teach assistive coding using llms with open source models. Setup a workbench llm for each student to have with an openweight model on it. Teach different ways of getting good results and go over setting up the whole environment yourself.

The next year do a 4hr lab in a lab room with office chairs, variable height desks, and model it off an open office. No special dress code, but name tags and people will talk to each other with the openness of dialog at a good workplace. This even gives the TA usable experience. You could introduce different structures with leads or co-equals or any useful team structure.

People need to be taught in-person working skills because companies don't want to hire people without experience. This also helps someone be able to interview for a work from home job.

Re: No AI Fridays

#174
Such a policy is overcomplicating it. Instead, I make sure I understand nearly everything the AI produces before using its code. If I understand its output, it helps me grow.

Re: No AI Fridays

#176
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Choosing from a set of decisions the agent presents you might feel like you are making a decision, but you’ll never make the one that wasn’t presented.

seeing the decision point is exactly what allows you to prevent bad foundational decisions, you are of course able to see beyond any pre-canned choices

You might think you are above the power of suggestion but I guarantee you are not.

Re: No AI Fridays

#177

Reminds me of when we were admonished to use a "real" compiled language rather than an interpreted, GC'd one, lest we lose our ability to reason about the system, cache, and memory. Which reminds me of when we were admonished to continue using assembly, lest our "real" skills atrophy from too much cushy C development. Which reminds me of when we were admonished to keep our scope and probe skills sharp, and read and u…

> The best engineers know how our systems work down to more levels, but for average developers producing average software with average impact, average output is acceptable.

What if I told you the "best engineers" pretty much all know the same things? The tools they use at work and the code they write to get paid doesn't reflect even half of what they know.

There will always be situations where a problem goes deep enough to leverage experiences from outside of the usual work role.

What if I told you that your "specialists", AI or not, are going to be objectively far worse at actually getting things done because they don't have the bigger picture in mind?

We've seen this race to the bottom in other disciplines before. Software is so special and lucky that all you have to do to prevent this is not use AI while lying to your boss that you are. When the boss finds out, they stop paying for AI and everyone is happy again.

Re: No AI Fridays

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Privileged workers are the ones who's employers are paying for AI while still keeping them employed in the first place. I used "time" as privilege, not as AI as it's given as premise in the article. You didn't even attempt to decode my comment with the article content in the first place. > The end goal of every AI initiative is to lower headcount, if your employer is forcing AI usage you are digging your own grave…

I understood your original comment just fine, I just thought that the point you were making was stupid. By "trend nowadays" I assume you're just choosing not to count the 700k layoffs in tech sector since 2022? Show me all of the new products Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft etc have "spawned" since force feeding AI to their remaining staff. 100 different permutations for sycophantic AI models and fact simulators don'…

[deleted]

Re: No AI Fridays

#179
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you're experiencing a manic episode.

Why do you (and lots of other people with your mindset) speak to other humans this way? I post stuff I make on reddit and the teenagers (or grown men?) say things like, "your mother should have used a coat hanger if she knew you'd use AI". And it's almost a daily occurrence on social media. I'm having a great time, and you don't have to join the club. Do whatever you want with your life. But stop talking to us like t…

Because the shoes fits. Racing thoughts, high energy, highly distractible, detachment from reality and delusions of grandeur. Next comes the crash.

Re: No AI Fridays

#180
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe you. I'm just telling my own personal experience. What works for you doesn't seem to work for me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? But also: I'm purely doing things for my own pleasure now, so whatever I enjoy more is what I'm free to do. Again though, that's just me.

I would absolutely believe people on the spectrum with hyperfocus-oriented ADHD (such as myself) might knock things out of the park with coding agents while everyone else is befuddled by their bizarre behavior. But then, I don't get the slow pace and fake drama of reality TV and professional wrestling, yet so many others do. Similarly, starting with British serial dramas like Survivors and Blake's Seven in the 80s, I…

ADHD is an inability to focus. ChatGPT diagnosed you incorrectly.
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