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Comment by throwaway8754aw | Hacker News Reader

I just used chatGPT to code an html/css/JavaScript solution in an hour for coworkers who were having troubles. There were like wow that was fast we were trying to figure this out for a few days. I'm skilled / an expert but that would've taken me many hours vs. a few back n forth with GPT.

Overall my html/css/javascript skills I feel now aren't as valuable as they were.

I guess in this instance I cheated too or is it that my developer peers haven't gotten into using GPT or they are more moral? As well maybe this is just the new normal....

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The rules for working are very very different from being at school.

No you were not cheating, you did what was expected from you. But you knew that.

How so and or AI is changing the rules everywhere no? Today it seems not good yet tomorrow it's how things are...

The goals are very different. It was like this also before AI.

The goal in school is to learn things. To learn to write you can't just copy an article from a paper and say it is yours. You have not learned.

At work, the goal is to get things done.

In our field you needed / need to learn new things to stay relevant yet now the new thing does it almost all for you.

As well if one generation is using AI to get things done why wouldn't a younger generation do the same? Do as I say and not as I do.. that never has held well over time.

But you already learned the web stack--school kids haven't. Your mental model is what prepared you to use LLMs well to solve a problem. So if they're going to do as you did, they need to learn the subject first and then learn how to extend their reach with LLMs. Otherwise, they're just cheating in school.

the kids are going to be in a different world than we are. just like it was useful for us to learn a foreign language (still being taught it schools but those days are numbered) for kids these days it is a waste of time (I am sure there are many studies that say being bi/tri/… lingual has benefits beyond communication but you get my point).

I think while we may think “they need to learn the subject first…” do they really? and if they do why? e.g. someone teaching their kid “web development” in soon-to-be 2025 is insane given the tools we have now… so while there are things for sure kids should learn it is not easy to figure out what those things actually are

You don't need that knowledge as i just went to GPT and asked it ...

"I need to create a dropdown for a website can you help me make it?"

And then I asked,

"How do I make what you wrote above work?"

It detailed the things one needs to do ..copy/paste each block of code in three separate notepad files and save each one accordingly (index.html, style.css and script.js) all in one folder. Once that's done double click on the index.html to run the dropdown.

And your colleagues really spent a few days trying to figure this out?

Using select2 when u do a search it highlights search result but he wanted it only on click .. only way to do that is not use select2. Yet all drop downs in the app use select2

This has nothing to do with cheating at school.

Yeesh this is full of red flags…

What is..the new normal of using AI to do or help you get your job done and or quicker? Comment above shows it could be the new normal...

No. This attitude of being better than coworkers, coming in and saving the day. It had nothing to do with using AI. It’s about “I am better than you” instead of helping people out, or teaching them these things you know.

It’s just a passing internet comment missing all the context, so what do I know.

My comments are to be controversial… To get people to think… What is the future with AI and using it as such… If I told my coworkers how I achieved it would they not think less present day… What about in a few years or more it's the norm and mine and everyone's HML, CSS, JavaScript skills are less valuable,… this example shows that AI will definitely take peoples jobs, including my own if I do not ramp up my skills

You ramping up your skills will do nothing for you if a machine can otherwise be delegated your job due to the overhead of human worker vs. just owning a machines output. Not having to negotiate is extremely valuable to a business owner. Mark my words. Until people realize that the whole innovation around AI is to sidestep the labor class, things'll continue getting much darker before they brighten.

And the saddest thing is, the fools think it'll work in their favor, and won't blowback with massive unintended consequences.

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