Comment by parker-3461
20 days ago
If more people are able to step back and think about the potential growth for the next 5-10 years, then I think the discussion would be very different.
I am grateful to be able to witness all these amazing progress play out, but am also concerned about the wide ranging implications.
> think about the potential growth for the next 5-10 years,
I thought about it and it doesn't seem that bright. The problem is not that LLMs generate inferior code faster, is that at some point some people will be convinced that this code is good enough and can be used in production. At that point, the programming skills of the population will devolve and less people will understand what's going on. Human programmers will only work in financial institutions etc., the rest will be a mess. Why? Because generated code is starting to be a commodity and the buyer doesn't understand how bad it it.
So we're at the stage when global companies decided it's a fantastic idea to outsource the production of everything to China, and individuals are buying Chinese plastic gadgets en masse. Why? Because it's very cheap when compared to the real thing.
This is what the kids call “cope”, but it comes from a very real place of fear and insecurity.
Not the kind of insecurity you get from your parents mind you, but the kind where you’re not sure you’re going to be able to preserve your way of life.
> Not the kind of insecurity you get from your parents mind you
I don't get this part. At least my experience is the opposite: it's basically the basic function of parents to give their child the sense of security.
That’s the joke.gif
Sorry but I think you have it the other way around.
The ones against it understand fully what the tech means for them and their loved ones. Even if the tech doesn't deliver on all of its original promises (which is looking more and more unlikely), it still has enough capabilities to severely affect the lives of a large portion of the population.
I would argue that the ones who are inhaling "copium" are the ones who are hyping the tech. They are coping/hoping that if the tech partially delivers what it promises, they get to continue to live their lives the same way, or even an improved version. Unless they already have underground private bunkers with a self-sustained ecosystem, they are in for a rude awakening. Because at some point they are going to need to go out and go grocery shopping.
My hot take is that portions of both the pro- and anti- factions are indulging in the copium. That LLMs can regurgitate a functioning compiler means that it has exceeded the abilities of many developers and whether they wholeheartedly embrace LLMs or reject LLMs isn't going to save those that have been exceeded from being devalued.
The only safety lies in staying ahead of LLMs or migrating to a field that's out of reach of them.
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