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Comment by hyperadvanced

4 days ago

You can study the LLM output. In the “before times” I’d just clone a random git repo, use a template, or copy and paste stuff together to get the initial version working.

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hyperadvanced

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inferiorhuman  4 days ago

Studying gibberish doesn't teach you anything. If you were cargo culting shit before AI you weren't learning anything then either.

  • ben_w  4 days ago

    Necessarily, LLM output that works isn't gibberish.

    The code that LLM outputs, has worked well enough to learn from since the initial launch of ChatGPT. This even though back then you might have to repeatedly say "continue" because it would stop in the middle of writing a function.

  • oblio  4 days ago

    It's not gibberish. More than that, LLMs frequently write comments (some are fluff but some explain the reasoning quite well), variables are frequently named better than cdx, hgv, ti, stuff like that, plus looking at the reasoning while it's happening provides more clues.

    Also, it's actually fun watching LLMs debug. Since they're reasonably similar to devs while investigating, but they have a data bank the size of the internet so they can pull hints that sometimes surprise even experienced devs.

    I think hard earned knowledge coming from actual coding is still useful to stay sharp but it might turn out the balance is something like 25% handmade - 75% LLM made.

    • inferiorhuman  4 days ago 

        they have a data bank the size of the internet so they can
  pull hints that sometimes surprise even experienced devs.

      That's a polite way of phrasing "they've stolen a mountain of information and overwhelmed resources that humans would use to other find answers." I just discovered another victim: the Renesas forums. Cloudflare is blocking me from accessing the site completely, the only site I've ever had this happen to. But I'm glad you're able to have your fun.

        it might turn out the balance is something like 25% handmade - 75% LLM made.

      Doubtful. As the arms race continues AI DDoS bots will have less and less recent "training" material. Not a day goes by that I don't discover another site employing anti-AI bot software.

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