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I'd rather read the prompt

claytonwramsey.com

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Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#801

Post by achierius »

godelski wrote: post #771
lucianbr wrote: post #613

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ultimately we can't change this behavior if no one is willing to defect from "conventional wisdom" To me it reads as if you're contradicting yourself. It can be plainly seen that almost nobody is willing to defect. So change is impossible, you claim. Also change is possible, you claim. Which is it? You think people will change their choices as a result of you writing this comment and "winning" the argument? I agree…

There's no contradiction. > So change is impossible, you claim I claim the opposite. Just because few people defect doesn't mean that rate is fixed and immutable. That is where you misunderstand. Really, my comment is a "call to arms". It is a literally a plea to ask people of HN, including you, to become the change we all want to see. Follow your own logic. You have given up and are trying to justify it. You are not…

> You have given up and are trying to justify it

While I get where you're coming from -- I think the correct thing to do is to both move for systemic change and attempt to live the life you advocate for -- I think the position of "I'm moral, why do other people need the system change in order to be 'moral' as well?" more totally abandons the actual goal (fixing things) than the other way around. Fundamentally, things tend to change for material, systemic reasons, and so most often the best way to get at issues is not to go after individuals (whose behavior is more a symptom than the disease) but the root cause, the systemic influences that cause them to act that way.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#802

Post by llsf »

The most brain intensive activity I ever did at school, happened in the very last two years (so, ~20 years at school lead to it), when I rubbed my brain to Lambda Prolog.

I almost had headaches after intense thinking of problems and ways to solve them in lambda prolog. That was the most interesting and satisfying to physically feel the effect of high focus combined with applying what was a new logic.

Computer science at the university, taught me how to learn and explore new ideas. I might sound like my grandpa who told me when I was 8yo that using calculator would lead to people not able to count... and here I am saying that LLM might lead to people who do not know how to write.

Actually, I am a bit concern that we might produce more text in the short term because it is becoming cheap to write tons of documentation with LLMs. But those feel like death by Terms and Conditions, i.e. text that no one reads. So not only we would lose our ability to write, but we can seriously affect our ability to read. Sure LLM can summarize as well, but then we lose the nuances.

Nature is lazy, but should we be lazy and delegate our ability to think (read/write), to a software ? Think about it :)

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#803

Post by mjburgess »

chipsrafferty wrote: post #766
roxolotl wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why it’s unlikely these systems will effectively replace software development. By the time you’ve specified the novel system you want to build well enough in English such that you get exactly the system you want you might as well have written the code.

This is simply not true. I can describe a novel physics model for a video game. I can do a refresher on concepts like friction, air resistance, gravity, etc. that I don't remember well from school. Then I can describe the constraints and generate code to satisfy it. If I were to go and learn the physics really in depth and then code it myself, it would take 10x longer.

The comparison is to use a physics library. Only in the LLM case are you trying to write the physics engine yourself. And if its not the kind of physics that's in a library, yes, you will need to learn it to ship a game.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#804

Post by rafram »

laurentlb wrote: post #127

There are many ways to use LLMs. The issue, IMO, is that some people throw in a one-shot, short prompt, and get a generic, boring output. "Garbage in, generic out." Here's how I actually use LLMs: - To dump my thoughts and get help organizing them. - To get feedback on phrasing and transitions (I'm not a native speaker). - To improve tone, style (while trying to keep it personal!), or just to simplify messy sentences…

That's a lot of back-and-forth to produce something that's functionally equivalent to your original text, only slightly worse.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#805

Post by obscurette »

jjaksic wrote: post #770

I think AI can be an amazing tool that can help us learn even better when used correctly and when not used as a substitute for learning and understanding. It can be used as a personal tutor. How awesome is it to have a tutor always available to answer almost any question from any angle to really help you understand? Yes, AI won't get everything right 100%, but for students who are still learning basics, it's fair to…

People thought that social media in our pockets can be amazing tool to help to connect the humanity if used correctly. And here we are.

And about oral exams ... I agree that these are amazing. In seventies and eighties when I was in school, most of exams were oral. But our society is really afraid of these, because oral exams are always subjective.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#806

Post by bdangubic »

seattle_spring wrote: post #789
bdangubic wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you work there, as OP said, it's time to look for another job.

Totally, if you're willing to trade in your half-million or more annual compensation for $150k or less. My point is that it's an unfortunate game you have to play if you're working for places like that.

the coolest thing "the big tech" was able to do is convince a whole bunch ridiculously smart people that they only place they can make $500k is with them. I personally (I am just one person) know more than 10 people not working for big tech making (some significantly) north of $500k as SWEs and doing awesome sh*t (unlike I would un-intelligently guess most of big tech employees)

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#807

Post by importantbrian »

ChadNauseam wrote: post #358
jameshart wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve come across this analogy that I think works well: Using an LLM to do schoolwork is like taking a forklift to the gym. If all we were interested in was moving the weights around, you’d be right to use a tool to help you. But we’re doing this work for the effect it will have on you . The reason a teacher asks you a question is not because they don’t know the answer.

If students went to college only to learn, colleges wouldn't bother giving diplomas. Compare: My piano teacher doesn't give diplomas because none of her students would care, her students actually want to learn. When my piano teacher cancels class, I am disappointed because I wanted to learn. My piano teacher doesn't need to threaten me with bad grades to get me to practice outside of class (analogous to homework), be…

I'm not sure this is entirely fair. When I was in college I genuinely enjoyed learning and now that I'm out of school I still spend time learning about the subjects of my major and minor in my free time, but this would have described me pretty well in school, "they're relieved when their professors cancel class, and they need to be bullied into studying outside of class." I love to learn, but something about being forced to do it makes me rebel against it.

In some ways offering the diploma and all the requirements that go with that take the joy out of the learning for me.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#808

Post by seattle_spring »

bdangubic wrote: post #806
seattle_spring wrote: post #789

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally, if you're willing to trade in your half-million or more annual compensation for $150k or less. My point is that it's an unfortunate game you have to play if you're working for places like that.

the coolest thing "the big tech" was able to do is convince a whole bunch ridiculously smart people that they only place they can make $500k is with them. I personally (I am just one person) know more than 10 people not working for big tech making (some significantly) north of $500k as SWEs and doing awesome sh*t (unlike I would un-intelligently guess most of big tech employees)

Sure, there are some jobs that match your description, likely for people that can brand themselves "AI engineers" for a rocketship company like OpenAI. Their number is absolutely miniscule compared to the number of big-tech jobs.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#809

Post by palata »

shanusmagnus wrote: post #676
palata wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sure, the system is broken but what's the alternative? As I said, the only country I know where it is like that is the US.

Are you saying the US is the only country that has an excess of applicants for entry-level positions? Or the only one for which credentialism is the solution to this problem? If the second, how does the place you're from solve it?

No, I am saying that the US is the only country I know where students pay 60k per year.

Re: I'd rather read the prompt

#810

Post by Akronymus »

grumbelbart2 wrote: post #649
Akronymus wrote: post #624

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Techbically even those hidden phrases arent permitted by law, and you have the right to get those phrases removed/have it be turned into a basic evaluation (just from when to when + what job) The employers that do use those hidden phrases just hope they arent challenged/the employee doesnt notice. Thats also why most evaluations are entirely written in the superlative.

"Missing" information is a huge red flag as well, though. If an Arbeitszeugnis only lists the dates and what the person worked on, and nothing about results or behavior, we would never invite them for an interview.

It could be that the employee left due to being on bad terms with the employer, for something at fault with the employer. I personally wouldnt take a basic one as that hard a strike.
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