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Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

slopwatch.com

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Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#11

Post by troyvit »

I think I see where this article is going. I don't ever want to be known for being good at programming Next.js. I don't ever want to look at the salad that "good" React demands and feel proud of it. In my current role I'm perfectly happy writing poor code for these painful abstractions of node.

I don't even want to know where Next leaves off and React begins, or even where React leaves off and TypeScript begins, or even if I'm using TypeScript or JavaScript. Let AIs handle the miasma that is front-end development. I'll paste it in there, test it, make it as succinct as possible and get it off my plate so I can do something more useful.

This compared to the time I used AI to help with my first Ruby project, where it pointed me to some cool libraries, pushed me to look up amazing functionalities that my PHP-corrupted brain couldn't even conceive of, etc.

Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#12

Post by exe34 »

grayhatter wrote: post #8
xkbarkar wrote: post #6

I think this is a naive article trying to stop a huge wave that is already here. I know developers that fret over younger devs that have never even seen assemby and thus do not understand the code they write and so on…. Learn how to use AI to be better and faster than everyone else. No one in a decade will pay top dollar for a slow dev that knows their handwritten code indside out. Its all about scale and speed. Now…

> No one in a decade will pay top dollar for a slow dev that knows their handwritten code indside out. But they will have to pay for the dev that can debug years of code that their fleet of prompt engineers cant figure out. > Its all about scale and speed. Now you can argue that it takes the artisanship out of development but truth is, no one cares. I think you're correct, the MBAs making decisions won't care, and wi…

> I think you're correct, the MBAs making decisions won't care, and will choose scale and speed

won't that lead to aircrafts coming apart in flight, spaceships getting grounded and satellites exploding?

Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#15

Post by taylodl »

JohnFen wrote: post #4
taylodl wrote: post #3

You Rob Yourself of Learning Opportunities Not really. When I'm doing something new to me, I do not let AI write that code, otherwise how can I evaluate the code that it produces? Skills You Already Have May Atrophy Of course they will! Just like they do when you use a library of routines. Nobody writes merge sort outside of their algorithms class. Could I sit down right now and write merge sort? No. Do I care? Not r…

> On a positive note, you're alive at what will likely be one of the greatest inflection points in human history! How lucky is that?! That remains to be seen. Not all inflection points are good things. If we're at a major inflection point with generative AI (and I doubt that we are), it's possible that will end up being a bad thing, not a good one. I'm not saying that this tech will end up being good or bad on the wh…

Absolutely! Hence the fear. Technology is a double-edged sword - there are always upsides and downsides. With most technologies it seems as though we only discuss the upsides. Rarely are the downsides discussed, or even mentioned. When it comes to automation technology though, the focus always quickly shifts to the downsides. I think that reflects a deep distrust of civilization and the status quo.

Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#16

Post by wwweston »

troyvit wrote: post #11

I think I see where this article is going. I don't ever want to be known for being good at programming Next.js. I don't ever want to look at the salad that "good" React demands and feel proud of it. In my current role I'm perfectly happy writing poor code for these painful abstractions of node. I don't even want to know where Next leaves off and React begins, or even where React leaves off and TypeScript begins, or e…

AI can offload the burden of producing more of something it’s seen a lot of. Including miasma.

AI is much less likely to help you engineer your way out of miasma.

When you automate something, you get more of it. Except attention, you get less of that.

Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#17

Post by danjl »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #9

I think this article is not really correct, but I have been programming since the late 1960s, so my perspective may be different. There have been many new tools. The simplistic DWIM AI coding assistant on my Lisp Machine seemed like magic 40 years ago and perhaps LLMs seem a little magical now. However they are just tools to get work done faster. I love coding with assistance from Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.

Exactly. I didn't start coding until the '80s, but even at that point I was writing a lot of assembly code. I don't do that anymore. Each decade that I've coded I look back and see that I've moved up to higher and higher levels of complexity over the years. I was skeptical of AI coding, and I still am. But I've seen that it is capable of writing single line expressions quite well, and if the function is well scoped enough, it can even write full functions occasionally. My favorite use of AI is as a rubber duck, for me to bounce my ideas off of before I actually write any code. I expect it's capabilities will get better and better over time as everything does. Having The AI code these smaller bits allows me to focus more on gluing the bits together, just like I've done for the last 10 years with all the open source libraries that are available these days. I don't mind that I forgotten how to use the Lisa assembler for my Apple ][. I'm happy to keep forgetting stuff if I keep working on more and more complicated projects.

Re: Using AI Generated Code Will Make You a Bad Programmer

#18

Post by JohnFen »

taylodl wrote: post #15
JohnFen wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On a positive note, you're alive at what will likely be one of the greatest inflection points in human history! How lucky is that?! That remains to be seen. Not all inflection points are good things. If we're at a major inflection point with generative AI (and I doubt that we are), it's possible that will end up being a bad thing, not a good one. I'm not saying that this tech will end up being good or bad on the wh…

Absolutely! Hence the fear. Technology is a double-edged sword - there are always upsides and downsides. With most technologies it seems as though we only discuss the upsides. Rarely are the downsides discussed, or even mentioned. When it comes to automation technology though, the focus always quickly shifts to the downsides. I think that reflects a deep distrust of civilization and the status quo.

I think with genAI specifically, a whole lot of the distrust comes from two things: the movement on this front is coming from SV, which has earned a lot of distrust from the general public, and the major players in genAI (particularly OpenAI) have themselves been very clear that they believe the tech is dangerous and they're intentionally gambling with the lives of everyone else.

That, and when people have expressed their natural fear that genAI and LLMs will adversely impact their abililty to make a living, a common response -- especially early on when the fear was much higher -- from the pro-AI crowd is (paraphrasing) "too bad, you can't stop progress". That's not a reasonable response, and it's one that effectively says "you don't matter, sucks to be you." It's not far from saying "AI is your enemy."

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