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AI coding is gambling
61–70 of 471 posts
Re: AI coding is gambling
#62The gambling metaphor often applied to vibecoding implies that the outcome cannot be fully controlled or influenced, such as a slot machine. Opus 4.5 and beyond show that it not only can be very much can be influenced, but also it can give better results more consistently with the proper checks and balances.
> The gambling metaphor often applied to vibecoding implies that the outcome
The important part of the not-really-a-metaphor is the relationship between user and machine, and how it affects the user's mind.
What the machine outputs on "wins" doesn't matter as much, addictive gambling can still happen even when the payouts are dumb.
Re: AI coding is gambling
#63Fascinating how HN is torn about vibe coding still. Everybody pretty much agrees that it works for some use cases, yet there is a flamewar (I mean, cultured, HN-type one) every time. People seem to be more comfortable in a binary mindset.
Re: AI coding is gambling
#64“hiring people is gambling”
Re: AI coding is gambling
#65I was just thinking about this. I was reading those tweets about the SV party were people were going home early to “check on their agents” or the “token anxiety” people are having over whether they are optimizing their agent usage. This is all giving me addiction vibes. Especially at the end of the day it seems like there is not much to show for it.
Addiction for the mere purpose of satisfying a compulsion, rather than to achieve a reward or physical "high."
Re: AI coding is gambling
#66It is and will always be about: 1) properly defining the spec 2) ensuring the implementation satisfies said spec
Personally, I get a huge rush of dopamine seeing LLMs build out complex features very quickly to the point that it will keep me up all night wanting to push further and further.
That's where the gambling metaphor really resonates. It's not whether or not the output is correct, I've been building software for many years and I know how direct LLMs pretty well at this point. But I'm also an alcoholic in recovery and I know that my brain is wired differently than most. And using LLMs has tested my ability to self-regulate in ways that I haven't dealt with since I deleted social media years ago.
Re: AI coding is gambling
#67It is and will always be about: 1) properly defining the spec 2) ensuring the implementation satisfies said spec
Then pulling the lever until it works! You can also code up a little helper to continuously pull the lever until it works!
We have a monkeys and typewriters thing for this already.
Just instead of hitting keys, they’re hitting words, and the words have probability links to each other.
Who the hell thinks this is ready to make important decisions?
Re: AI coding is gambling
#68Is using a calculator gambling?
Re: AI coding is gambling
#69The gambling metaphor often applied to vibecoding implies that the outcome cannot be fully controlled or influenced, such as a slot machine. Opus 4.5 and beyond show that it not only can be very much can be influenced, but also it can give better results more consistently with the proper checks and balances.
Poker is a skill-based game where your actions influence your success, but many people who play it are gambling.
everybody who's playing poker is gambling, skilled or not.
Re: AI coding is gambling
#70I really hate when people write about the AI of the past, opus 4.6 and gpt 5.4 [not as much imo, it's really boring and uncreative] have increased in capabilities so much that it's honestly mind numbing compared to what we had LESS than a year ago.
Opus specifically from 4.1 to 4.5 was such a major leap that some take it for granted, it went from getting stuck in loops, generally getting lost constantly, needing so so much attention to keep it going to being able to get a prompt, understand it from minimal context and produce what you wanted it to do. Opus 4.6 was a slight downgrade since it has issues with respecting what the user has to say.