The greatest part of this approach is that you actually become better in the process.
The downside is you use less tokens.
Using AI to write better code more slowly
271–280 of 511 posts
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
I follow the same process. I have a design in mind for the problem at hand, but I don't reveal it to Codex. I go back and forth a bit to see if its proposals are better than mine. I go back and forth on tradeoffs of various approaches. And then I ask it to compare its proposals with mine. I "win" most of the time but there are many times where it shows a me a better, or simpler approach, or makes me rethink the solut…
i bet you've contributed a lot of training trajectories for those AI's.
Good!
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
I follow the same process. I have a design in mind for the problem at hand, but I don't reveal it to Codex. I go back and forth a bit to see if its proposals are better than mine. I go back and forth on tradeoffs of various approaches. And then I ask it to compare its proposals with mine. I "win" most of the time but there are many times where it shows a me a better, or simpler approach, or makes me rethink the solut…
> I go back and forth a bit to see if its proposals are better than mine I find it useful to let it generate benchmarks comparing the approaches. Turns out AI is terrible at guessing whats faster or allocates less
> Turns out AI is terrible at guessing whats faster or allocates less
s/AI/a human being/ would work equally well, lol.
Jokes aside, I do like the approach of letting the AI build something deterministic and make decisions based on that.
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
I follow the same process. I have a design in mind for the problem at hand, but I don't reveal it to Codex. I go back and forth a bit to see if its proposals are better than mine. I go back and forth on tradeoffs of various approaches. And then I ask it to compare its proposals with mine. I "win" most of the time but there are many times where it shows a me a better, or simpler approach, or makes me rethink the solut…
> I go back and forth a bit to see if its proposals are better than mine I find it useful to let it generate benchmarks comparing the approaches. Turns out AI is terrible at guessing whats faster or allocates less
Yup, just like people!
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#275The anchoring thing is what gets me. Once I've seen the AI's first try, even when it's wrong, I can't really write fresh in my head anymore. I end up editing instead of starting over. Code quality usually ends up fine. Time-wise it's a wash or worse, you just don't feel it until you look at the clock at end of day.
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#276We may be in the last Golden age of AI, where experienced professionals still exist who can code manually, and AI already exists who can code automatically, and when the former use the latter skillfully, wonders happen. This magical intersection may not exist iin the future, or become very rare.
people said the same with any innovation
And you act like there hasn't been a loss once we moved away from the master craftsman style of building to the professionalized architect style of building. We cannot make a gothic cathedral amymore. also CAD, homogenized the built environment, significantly. And we have been losing a lot of traditional, artisanal craftsmen art forms over the past century. artisanal craft mounds,
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#277Just dont use it lol, it does nothing you cant do by yourself. You're nerfing parts of your brain by relying on it.
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Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#278Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#279.
Re: Using AI to write better code more slowly
#280I've hit this point with AI where it's not a simple process, but a long drawn out back and forth. I'll use AI to design the implementation of a medium sized, cross cutting feature. Review all the details, maybe iterate on just that. Then implement with Claude 4.7 Max - which runs slower, but does a better job. Then review the implementation, then have Codex GPT 5.5 xhigh fast review it - which almost always finds cor…
You could just use Xiaomi Mimo for all of that and it would be cheaper and faster than all of them...