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AI coding is gambling

notes.visaint.space

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Re: AI coding is gambling

#31

Post by CodingJeebus »

For me, the feedback loop accelerating the way that AI now permits is so addictive in my day-to-day flows. I've had a really hard time stepping away from work at a reasonable hour because I get dopamine hits seeing Claude build things so fast.

Addiction and recovery is part of my story, so I've done quite a bit of work around that part of my life. I don't gamble, but I can confidently say that using LLMs has been an incredible boost in my productivity while completely destroying my good habits around setting boundaries, not working until 2AM, etc.

In that sense, it feels very much like gambling.

Re: AI coding is gambling

#32

Post by james2doyle »

simonw wrote: post #10

Assigning work to an intern is gambling: they're inherently non-deterministic and it's a roll of the dice whether the work they do will be good enough or you'll have to give them feedback in order to get to what you need.

The only similarity is that they both say "you’re absolutely right" when you point out their obvious mistakes

Re: AI coding is gambling

#34

Post by hirako2000 »

rustyhancock wrote: post #23

Life is full of variable reward schemes. Probably why we evolved to be so enamoured by them. Sometimes I think we put the Carr before the horse. We gamble because evolution promotes that approach. Yes I could go for the reliable option. But taking a punt is worth a shot if the cost is low. The cost of AI is low. What is a problem is people getting wrapped up in just one more pull of the slot machine handle. I use AI…

I doubt gambling is in nature. Investments based on reason pay off. Evolution shapes for sensical moves.

Humans invented gambling as a rigged game that mimics what's in nature, perversed for profit.

Re: AI coding is gambling

#35

Post by ctoth »

bensyverson wrote: post #20

This "slot machine" metaphor is played out. If you're just entering a coin's worth of information and nudging it over and over in the hopes of getting something good, that's a you problem, not a Claude problem. If, on the other hand, you treat it like a hyper-competent collaborator, and follow good project management and development practices, you're golden.

> If, on the other hand, you treat it like a hyper-competent collaborator, and follow good project management and development practices, you're golden.

I am consistently using 100% of my weekly $200 max plan. I know how this thing works, I know how to get value out of it, and I wish what you said were true.

If you do all of these things? You are in a better spot. You are in a far better spot than if you hadn't! Setting up hooks to ensure notes get written? Massive win! Red-green TDD? Yes, please! But in terms of just ... well, being able to rely on the damn thing?

https://github.com/ctoth/claude-failures

Re: AI coding is gambling

#36

Post by Terr_ »

I'd emphasize that prompting LLMs to generate code isn't just metaphorical gambling in the sense of "taking a risk", the scary part is the more-literal gambling involving addictive behaviors and how those affect the way the user interacts with the machine and the world.

Heck, this technology also offers a parasocial relationship at the same time! Plopping tokens into a slot-machine which also projects a holographic "best friend" that gives you "encouragement" would fit fine in any cyberpunk dystopia.

Re: AI coding is gambling

#39

Post by RealityVoid »

CraftingLinks wrote: post #30

I see whole teams pushed by c- level going full in with spec driven + tdd development. The devs hate it because they are literally forbidden to touch a single line if code. but the results speak for themselves, it just works and the pressure has shifted to the product people to keep up. The whole tooling to enable this had to be worked out first. All Cursor and extreme use of a tool called Speckit, connected to Notio…

> literally forbidden to touch a single line if code.

That is extremely stupid. What does that ban get you? I reqct to this because a friend mentioned exactly this. And I was dumbfounded.

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