An older fairytale goes this way... humans invented tools to transport them from a place to place faster than ever, and also communication systems that transmit messages faster than ever. Now, everything can be done in less time and they can enjoy the rest. Right?
AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
161–170 of 329 posts
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#162Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Many of them I would not have found if he did not share things as soon as he discovered something You don’t know that. For all you know, your life would’ve been richer if you’ve read those thoughts after they’ve been left to stew for longer. For all you know, if that happened you would’ve said “most” instead of “many”. Or maybe not, no one can say for sure until it happens > that felt “obvious.” It’s not about feel…
> There is value in exploring obvious concepts when you’ve thought about them for longer, maybe researched what others before you had to say on the matter, and you can highlight and improve on all of that. That's exactly what I try to do. I wrote more about my approach to that here: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/22/link-blog/#trying-to-a...
Respectfully, I think you are wholly missing the point. Running a link along and adding commentary to what other people have written is just social media, it is not at all the same thing as reflecting on a concept thoroughly. We’re discussing two different concepts.
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#164An older fairytale goes this way... humans invented tools to transport them from a place to place faster than ever, and also communication systems that transmit messages faster than ever. Now, everything can be done in less time and they can enjoy the rest. Right?
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Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
LLMs are quite accurate for programming, these days they almost always create a code that will compile without errors and errors are almost always fixable by feeding the error into the LLM. I would say this is extremely precise text generation, much better than most humans. Just like with CNC though, you need to feed it with the correct instructions. It's still on you for the machined output to do the expected thing.…
> LLMs are quite accurate for programming, these days they almost always create a code that will compile without errors and errors are almost always fixable by feeding the error into the LLM. What domains do you work in? This description does not match my experience whatsoever.
I found that LLMs are quite accurate given a proper pseudo-code & not using library. For business-logic or vague instruction they're bad.
Still not as accurate as CNC machine, maybe early model typewriter?.
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
> percentage of good, well planned, consistent and coherent software is going to approach zero So everything stays exactly the same?
> So everything stays exactly the same? No, we get applications so hideously inefficient that your $3000 developer machine feels like it it's running a Pentium II with 256 MB of RAM. We get software that's as slow as it was 30 years ago, for no reason other than our own arrogance and apathy.
> No, we get applications so hideously inefficient that your $3000 developer machine feels like it it's running a Pentium II with 256 MB of RAM.
> We get software that's as slow as it was 30 years ago, for no reason other than our own arrogance and apathy.
I feel like I read this exact same take on this site for the past 15 years.
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is value in exploring obvious concepts when you’ve thought about them for longer, maybe researched what others before you had to say on the matter, and you can highlight and improve on all of that. That's exactly what I try to do. I wrote more about my approach to that here: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/22/link-blog/#trying-to-a...
Respectfully, I think you are wholly missing the point. Running a link along and adding commentary to what other people have written is just social media, it is not at all the same thing as reflecting on a concept thoroughly. We’re discussing two different concepts.
My blog consists of different types of content.
I have a link blog which is links plus commentary. Each post takes 10-30 minutes to write. They're exactly like social media, though I try to add something new rather than just broadcast other people's content. https://simonwillison.net/blogmarks/
I collect quotations, which are the quickest form of content, probably just two minutes each. https://simonwillison.net/quotations/
I recently added "notes" which are effectively my link blog without a link. Very social media! I use those for content that doesn't deserve more than a couple of paragraphs: https://simonwillison.net/notes/
And then there are "entries". That's my long form content, each taking one to several hours (or occasionally more, eg ny annual LLM roundups). Those are the pieces of long-form writing where I aim to "reflect on a concept thoroughly": https://simonwillison.net/entries/
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
This argument has been used against every new technology since forever. And the initial gut reaction is to resist by organizing labor. Companies that succumb to organized labor get locked into that speed of operating. New companies get created that adopt 'the new thing' and blow old companies away. Repeat.
Do you like working 8 hours a day instead of 12? 5 days a week instead of 7? You can thank organized labor.
Those same jobs are no where to be found in the places that the organized labor started.
It moved outside the US.
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
> LLMs are quite accurate for programming, these days they almost always create a code that will compile without errors and errors are almost always fixable by feeding the error into the LLM. What domains do you work in? This description does not match my experience whatsoever.
I'm primarily into mobiles apps these days but using the LLMs I'm able to write software in languages that I don't know with tech that I don't understand well(like bluetooth). What did you try to do and the LLM failed you?
The guy is a troll. LLM coding posts are flame bait now.
Re: AI doesn’t reduce work, it intensifies it
#170I feel agentic development is a time sink. Previously, I'd have an idea, sit on it for a while. In most cases, conclude it's not a good idea worth investing in. If I decided to invest, I'd think of a proper strategy to approach it. With agentic development, I have an idea, waste a few hours chasing it, then switch to other work, often abandoning the thing entirely. I still need to figure out how to deal with that, fo…
> With agentic development, I have an idea, waste a few hours chasing it, then switch to other work, often abandoning the thing entirely.
My experience with LLMs is that they will call any idea a good idea, one feasible enough to pursue!
Their training to be a people-pleaser overrides almost everything else.