Matt MassicotteI find the idea that AI is a compiler or abstraction very strange. But I do think "delegation" is getting closer.
(I still don't buy that it is a "tool", even if it can be used like one.)
Alex Ozun@mattiem you're not alone with this intuition.
I too don't think that (agentic) AI is a tool. And I don't think that prompting is programming at a higher level of abstraction.
I think that in both cases it's something categorically different.
When a PM assigns a task with a detailed spec to a programmer, the PM is not "programming" at a higher abstraction level, and not using the programmer as a tool to "compile" their prompt to a lower-level representation (e.g. Java). They're collaborating.
I too don't think that (agentic) AI is a tool. And I don't think that prompting is programming at a higher level of abstraction.
I think that in both cases it's something categorically different.
When a PM assigns a task with a detailed spec to a programmer, the PM is not "programming" at a higher abstraction level, and not using the programmer as a tool to "compile" their prompt to a lower-level representation (e.g. Java). They're collaborating.
@mattiem I use Dijkstra's definition of abstraction: "The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise."
Under this definition, AI prompting is certainly *not* a programming abstraction, it's the opposite. It's a semantic level that allows to be vague and imprecise, and rely on AI ability to infer the most statistically probable meaning from context, or interrogate you until the meaning is clear (hence, the Plan mode).
Under this definition, AI prompting is certainly *not* a programming abstraction, it's the opposite. It's a semantic level that allows to be vague and imprecise, and rely on AI ability to infer the most statistically probable meaning from context, or interrogate you until the meaning is clear (hence, the Plan mode).