Technology

is this much different than IT guys not knowing how to solder anymore? I started my career learning about individual components and doing math by hand, and shortly after I was told that all we did was swap cards. My job eventually turned into a more or less normal IT job (compared to what it was), and by the time I moved on, we weren't even using command prompts anymore.

I remember asking one of my instructors about how layer 1 can generate layer 2, and he had an idea, but couldn't really point at components and give an explanation. One could say that I represent that first step in the death of knowledge due to convenience and optimization, but it hasn't really negatively affected me outside of curiosity. Even when I'm working on legacy equipment and actually do have to bust out a soldering iron, that's usually because I'm being cheap and don't want to buy new cards.

So, this makes me wonder: is it really all that bad if someone can't sit down and write lines and lines of code, but can understand it well enough to direct AI? I've used AI to help me code in some unfamiliar languages and all of the outputs I got were utterly unusable. So, in my anecdote, it didn't make up for my lack of skill in the slightest.

I say this as someone who taught himself blacksmithing on principle, so it's not like i'm some techbro or something. Obligatory I think AI is overpromised, but this seems like one of the few things it can actually assist with, assuming the person using it is capable enough to be using it.

You still need to review and verify the code, actually implement it, and improve it if you use AI.

If you just blindly accept it then you're just lazy to begin with.

that happens across all technological industries. when cars first became available, hsnds were needed to build them. nowadays most of it is done by robots. clerical workers were replaced by computers. and now "artificial intelligence" machines are trying to replace artists and writers, editors, and managers. unfortunately, the people that do those jobs are not just going to keel over and disappear. at what technological point do we stop and say thats enough? there has even been talk of replacing ceos with ai. are shareholders next? nobody will be able to buy those products anymore either

I took and passed a coding bootcamp at the eve of the first LLMs and generative AI. I had to do similar courses on my own to refresh my skills. I never found a coding job (story of my life!) But if I needed to I can do another course to refresh and start over stronger.

What are they so panicky about?

I’m fully able to code still, I just find it pointless when AI can do it for me. It’s like having to be somewhere, should I take the car or walk? Yeah walking might be good for me and the environment, but my car is so much faster and easier and I’ll definitely be on time. Who cares about the consequences of the future?

People lost their abilities to use slide rules too, to write assemblers, etc. The big companies monopolizing the tech are bad, but the tech is here to stay.

I doubt anyone can actually calculate a line of best using ordinary least square linear regression by hand with no mistakes but no one's crying about that. LLMs are just the next generation of calculators and programs.

I feel like AI is a 5G language, in that we have moved on from writing code directly to writing md files to command the bots to write the code. It seems like a higher abstraction of the code. It does make you think less about the code directly, and more about the bigger picture, but you still need those skills to check the bots output.