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Please Use AI

shawnsmucker.substack.com

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Re: Please Use AI

#281

Post by ryandrake »

kccqzy wrote: post #242
ryandrake wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever since I started experimenting with AI coding, I've totally lost that feeling of accomplishment. For projects I actually developed by typing in the code, it feels like I actually did something--like here's something I built and am responsible for bringing into the world. When I finish an AI-built project, I feel...nothing. Just that empty: "Code now exists where it didn't exist before, but I didn't really do anyt…

That’s why fully AI written projects are only interesting to those who care only about productivity (i.e. business use cases) rather than the developer’s enjoyment and satisfaction. For my own sanity, I never allow AI to do everything. Either I write some code and turn to AI for debugging help and code review, or I let AI write the initial draft and I debug the AI-written code.

I feel AI is interesting if the purpose is utilitarian, but not if the purpose is artistic or expressive. I've thought to myself: If AI could create a bicycle, would I ride it? Probably, yes. If AI could create a bed frame and matching bedside cabinets, would I outfit my bedroom with them? Maybe, maybe not. If AI could paint a picture on canvas (it probably can), would I hang the output in my house? Hell no!

Re: Please Use AI

#282

Post by cookingrobot »

beering wrote: post #224
ryukoposting wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a photo has strong composition and symbolism, does it matter if the photographer took the photo as opposed to prompting it into existence?

An interesting question because photos are mostly machine-generated to begin with. The photographer just hits a button.

The work of a photographer is to put something interesting in front of the lens before pressing the button.

Re: Please Use AI

#284

Post by eggbrain »

The value of human interaction cannot be overstated -- and the writer did a beautiful job outlining how AI isolates us. But there are also hidden difficulties in human interaction that AI helps ameliorate.

- My doctor friend does not wanting me pinging them asking for free medical advice every time I get health anxiety

- My chef friend does not want me calling them every time I'm struggling with a recipe

- My author friend does not want to read the 20th draft of my book, in which I've changed perhaps 10% of the content from the last draft

In these, the cost is a tax on the relationship -- relying on someone else too much to the point where it could potentially be impacting _their_ life.

Similarly, there are enough communities out there that are not accommodating -- even if I wanted to get a human answer and/or connect with someone, the interactions themselves can be painful. Do we remember what it was like posting on Stack Overflow? Do we believe Stack Overflow was a one-off outlier?

I also believe human imagination and knowledge shouldn't be bound to the relationships you have around you. What if my social group is small, or diversity of knowledge that my social group has is small? Should I not be able to think and explore an idea because my best alternative would be to contact a professor at a university that 99% of the time will not answer me?

I do believe that many people use AI now instead of learning and connecting -- I know my own programmatic knowledge has weakened now that AI has acted as a superhuman autocorrect. But on the other hand, with the help of AI I've also learned about a ton of things that would have otherwise been unavailable to me -- and I believe has improved me on the whole.

Re: Please Use AI

#285

Post by jjulius »

jimbokun wrote: post #195
enraged_camel wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people don't have that many friends. I forget the average but it is in fact absurdly low, at least for Americans. There are a lot of reasons for this (e.g. erosion and disappearance of "third place" spaces, rise of social media, etc.) but the circumstances have essentially been ripe for something like AI to come in and fill the gap, and it is.

> A lot of people don't have that many friends. Start there.

Exactly. It's not an overnight process, it takes work, but there's tremendous value in true community.

Re: Please Use AI

#286

Post by runarberg »

the_af wrote: post #158
btilly wrote: post #85

I am reminded of Veritasium: What Everyone Gets Wrong About AI and Learning (original video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS68sl2D70 ) from a year ago. "The world is full of heavy things, and yet most of us aren't ripped." AI is an opportunity. On the one hand, it can be used to let our minds and social lives atrophy. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to help our minds grow. Most people will make the lazy ch…

> So do not let AI write your speeches. But do use it to push yourself harder. Isn't the point of the poem that you should, instead, ask a human? You'll get sidetracked and drawn into unrelated conversations, sure, but that's what it means to be human. Trying to optimize these distractions away means you deprive yourself from human interactions. And why optimize anyway, what's the end goal? That's my take from the po…

That was what I was thinking when the conversation went to Derek of Veritasium. This poem was centered around humanity and our shared experiences as humans. Derek is consistently obsessed with technology, and will center every conversation around how technology will enhance the human experience (by which he probably means capitalism to be honest).

Taking the conversation to Derek of Veritasium feels like after having watched Koyaanisqatsi your mind goes to James Burke and how the invention of the plow has improved how we experience human society.

Re: Please Use AI

#287

Post by happytoexplain »

eggbrain wrote: post #284

The value of human interaction cannot be overstated -- and the writer did a beautiful job outlining how AI isolates us. But there are also hidden difficulties in human interaction that AI helps ameliorate. - My doctor friend does not wanting me pinging them asking for free medical advice every time I get health anxiety - My chef friend does not want me calling them every time I'm struggling with a recipe - My author…

I think one of the important things at the core of these conversations is that the "things where AI is the best option" parts of the matrix don't feel like they need to be encouraged. People are going to use AI. A lot. I.e. for those of us who agree there is a balance to be struck, it's hard to argue that real-life usage doesn't naturally lean toward "too much AI" vs "not enough AI".

Re: Please Use AI

#289

Post by abustamam »

sushshshhs wrote: post #129
ryandrake wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever since I started experimenting with AI coding, I've totally lost that feeling of accomplishment. For projects I actually developed by typing in the code, it feels like I actually did something--like here's something I built and am responsible for bringing into the world. When I finish an AI-built project, I feel...nothing. Just that empty: "Code now exists where it didn't exist before, but I didn't really do anyt…

If your project contained original thought does it matter if the IFs and the ELSEs were generated? I sometimes wonder if people get into this to create an actual working something or they just enjoy sorting colored blocks for the heck of it. I am on the other extreme end: I don’t give a rat’s ass about the code itself. The spec, the intent, the architecture, the contracts are what I find interesting. All the “file ha…

I enjoyed writing code because it felt like playing Lego. Just putting stuff together. Now I do let AI code, and it's like putting together different Lego.

That said, I wouldn't let AI build my Lego sets for me because the point of that is the building. But for work? As long as my boss is happy enough to keep funding my Lego hobby, I'm happy.

Re: Please Use AI

#290

Post by llm_nerd »

happytoexplain wrote: post #88
llm_nerd wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they don't seem to be lamenting that people might go to that channel instead of asking their own fathers. Much of the anti-AI sentiment has this sort of false dichotomy as its foundation. An imagination that the alternative to AI is the purest form of manual labour in some sort of idealized, bucolic form, filled with heartfelt, purposeful, sincere human connection. So every time I'm thinking about what to make with…

>Much of the anti-AI sentiment has this sort of false dichotomy as its foundation. An imagination that the alternative to AI is the purest form of manual labour in some sort of idealized, bucolic form. This is backwards. This false dichotomy is what irrational reactions against anti-AI sentiment use, not the anti-AI sentiment itself. It is exactly the false dichotomy the parent you are replying to is using.

>This false dichotomy is what irrational reactions against anti-AI sentiment use, not the anti-AI sentiment itself.

This is very LLM. Did you use ChatGPT to write that bounces-off-me-and-sticks-to-you retort?

It's, of course, absolute nonsense.

The very foundation of the essay was AI or dichotomies, and that forms the entire basis of an anti-AI screed. A sort of laughably righteous screed as if everyone else is making bad choices, and this guy has it right.

It's hyperbolic silliness.

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