i do not want to get into the business of posting LLM takes but very briefly:
It feels clear to me that some people* are getting value out of using LLMs for programming. Basically see https://simonwillison.net/'s whole blog. If I think about it purely on the basis of "in a vacuum, can this help me write programs", it seems like an exciting technology.
BUT...
(1/?)
(* it also feels clear that some people are NOT getting value out of LLMs, hoping to avoid flamewars about that please)
(continued from ^)
Google search doesn't work as well anymore because the results are full of LLM-generated articles? I hear about CEOs putting pressure on their teams to produce more faster because they've been told that AI will increase productivity?
it feels sad. even though I find LLMs useful sometimes, with all of the societal impacts it often feels like it isn't actually improving my life.
(2/?)
@b0rk
As someone who recently graduated and been looking for a job, I've recently tried out Claude code and such because it seems there's an expectation now that I should get good at that.
When I do, I find the experience to be impressive and almost overwhelming with what it can do & how quickly. But then I get a sinking feeling that... I just don't want to be doing this. If I knew in university this is what I'd be doing I'd have kept programming as a hobby and gone into something else.
Julia Evans
kartoffelsaft