Comment by petcat
12 hours ago
The point is that expert humans (the GCC developers) writing code (C++) that generates code (ASM) does not appear to be as deterministic as you seem to think it is.
12 hours ago
The point is that expert humans (the GCC developers) writing code (C++) that generates code (ASM) does not appear to be as deterministic as you seem to think it is.
I’m very aware of that, but I’m also aware that it’s rare enough that the compiler doesn’t emit semantically equivalent code that most people can ignore it. That’s not the case with LLMs.
I’m also not particularly concerned with non-determinism but with chaos. Determinism in LLMs is likely solvable, prompt instability is not.
Classic HN-ism. To focus on the semantics of a statement while ignoring the greater point in order to argue why someone is wrong.
I think it's a perfectly fine point. The OP said (my interpretation) that LLMs are messy, non-deterministic, and can produce bad code. The same is true of many humans, even those whose "job" is to produce clean, predictable, good code. The OP would like the argument to be narrowly about LLMs, but the bigger point even is "who generates the final code, and why and how much do we trust them?"
As of right now agents have almost no ability to reason about the impact of code changes on existing functionality.
A human can produce a 100k LOC program with absolute no external guardrails at all. An agent Can't do that. To produce a 100k LOC program they require external feedback forcing them from spiraling off into building something completely different.
This may change. Agents may get better.