It's over. LLMs can produce any algorithm, any tech stack, any concept in seconds, minutes, or hours.
Writing code is like trying to build a house without powertools. Could you do it? Sure. But no one ever will, for most values of no one.
Writing code is like trying to build a house without powertools. Could you do it? Sure. But no one ever will, for most values of no one.
I guess just blow my brains out? Just.. Thanks for trying man, but you picked the wrong thing to specialize in, now you're completely redundant and worthless to society. Here's your cyanide pill?
God damn I'm so bitter about all of this. I was doing so well for a bit now I feel like I've completely wasted my life.
We'll already see the hype to start cooling down. If you're okay with cleaning up messes you need not be so pessimistic.
https://github.com/enterprisequalitycoding/fizzbuzzenterpris...
Assuming the code is produced to serve human needs there will be humans in the loop somewhere. Not nearly as many as before and not in the same roles but they will be there
The advent of the Spinning Jenny, water frame and power loom (etc.) changed textile manufacturing for good and made the end result so cheap that it is now seen as disposable. There are still some people in the loop controlling the machines but not nearly as many as before and also not really the same people since it takes a different skill set to keep a textile production line running than it takes to spin and weave.
The same is true for the advent of the phototypesetting machine (Linotype etc.) and the offset press which irreversibly changed print production. There are still people in the loop but not nearly as many and with a different skill set.
Now what about the "Coding Johnny"?
Generative models are now doing the same to coders, irreversibly changing the software production process. There will be far fewer people involved and those people will have a different skill set. Software will become disposable, more like RNA then DNA, if the specifications change the Coding Johnny will churn out a new version.
The difference is scale. Letting LLMs go out of hand is like the movie Fantasia. Sure people can make a mess on their own but with LLMs can do so much worse in such a short amount of time.
> Generative models are now doing the same to coders
Programming involves quite a bit more than just typing. However, typing the code does help with understanding. Once we stop understanding code because it's just generated AI slop good luck fixing the mess.
Now that even Anthropic and OpenAI called for slowing down. It's obvious that we're past peak hype and realization of the cost of LLMs will set in.
This is exactly the value of a person in all capitalistic systems. If we want to change this we need widespread socialism / UBI. Maybe Georgism.
The fact that you're a good friend or partner to someone definitely has value, but not something anyone cares about.
The only reason we care about the economy is because it is a means to improve people's lives. If it doesn't, it isn't valuable in any meaningful sense of the word.
And your friends and your partner definitely care about if your are good friend and partner, and what they think about you is enormously more important than what your employer or the stock market think about you.
Everyone's not walking around worrying about the gig-worker or the driver or the janitor, beyond the fact that that they get food on time, reach where they want to be, and walk on clean ground.
I even presented the solutions to these. Don't fake pity me - that's easy internet keyboard warrior thing. Do the work of changing the system you're part of.
It is only part of the world (or even the US) that behaves like this. And there's nothing given that says that the parts that do must. We can as a society choose differently.
And the problem with your solutions (not that they are bad in themselves), is that they will never gain traction while people believe that the economy is the end and not a means. It is easy to argue against socialism, et c., if you think that the economy is the only thing that matters. But it is hard to argue for the current system if you believe that what matters is people in themselves, not the role they play in the current capitalistic system.
Right now I'm just at a loss. I've never wanted to be anything other than a programmer before.
If LLMs could be relied upon to produce a good result every time, then they would be like power tools. But they can't, so they aren't. Nobody would use a cordless drill that has a 10% chance of the drill bit suddenly moving several inches to the left of where you were aiming.
Except when they can’t, that is.
You know, it is called "soft" for a reason...
Power tools cannot "produce any house in hours"
Thank you.
I won't argue that the web is more 'capturable' by LLMs, though. It was maybe slightly out of reach by a large cohort of developers who wouldn't have considered themselves "UI people" (or who scoffed at it for various reasons), but now is well within vibe-territory.