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Code is cheap now, but software isn't

chrisgregori.dev

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Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#41

Post by sublinear »

bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

So then why did MIDI not replace musicians and conductors many decades ago? Why do we even bother thinking in terms of sheet music, or programs in terms of code?

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#42

Post by vunderba »

jascha_eng wrote: post #3

Can't read this every paragraph ends with it's not x it's y. Just give me the prompt so I can read the real insights you have and not the generated fluff.

This made me think of:

- use an LLM to compress a blog article into a singular prompt

- Run it through against all the major LLMs to have them expand it back out again

- Diff the original against the generated versions in terms of content/ideas

- Spit out an "entropy ranking".

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#45

Post by supriyo-biswas »

bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

I agree, and the corollary of this would be that the most senior engineers (who might be at a staff/principal level at a given company) who have the most amount of domain knowledge, deep understanding of various software architectures, and a product/customer oriented mindset may stand to benefit the most from AI-assisted coding, despite some narratives being peddled around by executives that they could do without senior engineers.

Unfortunately, for junior engineers the CS path has likely become more arduous, and we'd probably see something more of a doctor-like career path for CS students, where they specialize to obtain deeper architectural knowledge, before receiving employment.

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#46

Post by tjr »

sublinear wrote: post #41
bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

So then why did MIDI not replace musicians and conductors many decades ago? Why do we even bother thinking in terms of sheet music, or programs in terms of code?

It kinda sorta did. Decades ago, all music was played by live players. Today, there are lots of albums, lots of background music on television, radio, etc., that is made mostly or entirely using MIDI-controlled virtual instruments. No longer do you need to book an actual chamber orchestra for a little 30-second spot on some cooking show.

So those musicians are no longer getting booked for that bit of music. Instead, one person produces it in their home studio. But, there’s now an industry for creating software tools that support that workflow, and there are a lot more opportunities for such music than there used to be. The amount of music used in background spots on television is astounding.

Things changed. Some jobs diminished (studio players?) or went away altogether (music copyists?). But new work came into existence.

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#47

Post by foxglacier »

anishgupta wrote: post #11

solving problem should be an obsession rather than building. AI have fueled way too many builders while edge cases and lifecycle maintainence of the code is more of an afterthought

If building is easy enough, it's often OK that it's not perfect because you can just as easily fix problems as they arise if it's just for your own personal use. And making software just for your own personal use can now actually make sense wheras it would more often be a complete waste of time to do by hand.

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#48

Post by gpi »

thechao wrote: post #20
bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

Vibecoding is the feeling of coding. It's the same feeling people have when they say they can see the picture in their head, but can't quite draw it.

In other words the blind leading the blind

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#49

Post by bruce511 »

drivebyhooting wrote: post #38
bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

But also the market for conductors is very small. There are 100 musicians but only one conductor in an orchestra. So what you wrote does not bode well for the profession.

True. The market for "coders" will likely go down. The market for developers will remain the same (which means go up, the market for developers has always gone up.)

Re: Code is cheap now, but software isn't

#50

Post by bruce511 »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #34
bruce511 wrote: post #5

I saw someone use the term "orchestration", which seems to be the word for building the software using LLM tools. It made me think of the conductor, seemingly the most skillless job in the orchestra. All you do is wave the batton, no need to ever play a instrument. If LLMs are doing the hard part (writing code) then we can be the conductor waving the batton. But of course the visuals are misleading. Being conductor d…

> LLMs have made the musician part automated. They'll play whatever you want I like your metaphor even as someone who can be a bit skeptical of the overly broad promises of LLM’s/AI. But I do think this statement is too generous. It implies way too much actual musical ability. It also means that everything I can imagine musically is possible which it just isn’t, as there are limitations just like with real musicians.…

Yes, I agree, the musicians aren't mystros. And their technique could use improvement.

But I think the analogy holds (from an output point of view), the musicians will continue to improve, and some sections play better than others. The overall effect is "pleasing" although perhaps not concert quality.

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