The hidden cost of AI coding • Hacker News Board

Re: The hidden cost of AI coding

#471

Post by johngladtj » Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 6:35 AM UTC

bluefirebrand wrote: post #409

johngladtj wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Frankly I don't want to spend 2 hours reading documentation just to find out some arcane incantation that gets the computer to do what I want it to do. The interesting part of programming to me is designing the logic. It's the 'this, then that, except when this' flow that I'm really interested in, not the search for some obscure library that has some function that will parse this csv. Llms are great for that, a…

> Frankly I don't want to spend 2 hours reading documentation just to find out some arcane incantation that gets the computer to do what I want it to do Then you are just straight up not cut out to be a software developer The existence of LLMs may reduce the need to slog through documentation, but it will not remove that need

You're welcome to believe what you will, but the fact is I've written code that serves a purpose and provides value to those businesses, and at the end of the day that's is all that matters, not some arbitrary purity test you just made up.

The purpose of programming is to provide value for people, not to read documents.

Re: The hidden cost of AI coding

#472

Post by bluefirebrand » Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 2:39 PM UTC

johngladtj wrote: post #471

bluefirebrand wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Frankly I don't want to spend 2 hours reading documentation just to find out some arcane incantation that gets the computer to do what I want it to do Then you are just straight up not cut out to be a software developer The existence of LLMs may reduce the need to slog through documentation, but it will not remove that need

You're welcome to believe what you will, but the fact is I've written code that serves a purpose and provides value to those businesses, and at the end of the day that's is all that matters, not some arbitrary purity test you just made up. The purpose of programming is to provide value for people, not to read documents.

This isn't some arbitrary purity test

There is more to "providing value" than simply producing working code

Does it have known security exploits built in that you have no idea about because you couldn't be bothered to read documentation?

Is the "value" you provided extremely temporary because someone is going to come along and exploit your shitty LLM generated code to steal all of your client's customer data?

Software Engineering isn't just about writing code it is about understanding what you're building because if you don't, other people will exploit that

Re: The hidden cost of AI coding

#473

Post by baranul » Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 3:44 PM UTC

bluefirebrand wrote: post #305

_heimdall wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you draw that line though? If you're talking about a person using an LLM, or some other ML system, to help generate their music then the LLM is really just a tool for that person. I can't run 80 mph but I can drive a car that fast, its my tool to get the job done. Should I not be allowed to do that professionally if I'm not actually the one achieving that speed or carrying capacity? Personally my concerns wi…

> I can't run 80 mph but I can drive a car that fast If you drive a car 80mph you don't get to claim you are a good runner Similarly if you use an LLM to generate 10k lines of code, you don't get to claim you are a good programmer Regardless of the outcome being the "same"

LLMs aren't that productive. 10k lines from it, is a lot of troubleshooting, from all kinds of errors. Enough so, that one would still do better without it. Not saying LLMs don't have their place or can't be helpful, but they aren't where many imagine them to be, when it comes to programming.

Re: The hidden cost of AI coding

#474

Post by th0ma5 » Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 6:41 PM UTC

simonw wrote: post #421

th0ma5 wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's simply no way to verify everything that comes out of these things. Otherwise why use it? You also can't possibly truly know if you know more about a topic since by definition the models know more than you. This is automation bias. Do you not know the problems with even verifying or watching machines? This is a core part of the discussion of self driving vehicles. I guess I assumed you knew stuff about the fie…

"You also can't possibly truly know if you know more about a topic since by definition the models know more than you" Where does that idea that "by definition the models know more than you" come from?

It's a good question because I also hastily wrote that. You'll come to defer to the model on average when it comes to otherwise coin flip judgements you have make when you yourself are unsure. The model may not have any more information but you don't have any indication that it wouldn't and even suspect that it secretly does and this bias makes you trust the model and accept things that are ultimately bad in possibly ways that you'll not discover for a very long time because it is deep within a specific context.

Re: The hidden cost of AI coding

#475

Post by amiantos » Tue, May 06, 2025, 8:40 PM UTC

dml2135 wrote: post #441

amiantos wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're the silent majority, I'm pretty sure. If you love coding, you probably love technology, and if you love technology, you probably love AI, which is inarguably the most interesting tech advancement in this decade. The others, who are not like us? They've got other priorities. If you hate coding but you love AI, you're probably into software engineering because of the money, not love of technology. If you love cod…

> If you love coding and you hate AI, you're probably more committed to some sort of ideology than you are the love of technology. As someone that you may characterize as one of these people, I can share some perspective. First, I would question the premise that “love of technology” is not itself an ideology. I do love technology, but not for its own sake. I love solving problems, I love tinkering, and I love craftsm…

> what’s so wrong with choosing to live in a cabin in the woods without a cellphone?

When did I imply there was anything wrong with that?