Daniel Terhorst-North

The cognitive dissonance between 'Your #genAI is smarter than a roomful of PhDs' and 'Your AI is like a junior developer so you have to treat it like a n00b' is just... painful.

It is _so_ unlike a junior developer I don't even know where to start.

Oh wait, yes I do, I feel a podcast coming on. And possibly a blog post. And maybe even a talk. And it isn't what you think.

Get me! I seem to be pretty riled up about this one.

Mar 4 at 6:29pmWeb
Show threadBjörn FahllerMar 4
@tastapod It kind of reminds me of talking to my dad, in the early stages of his Altzheimers. As long as the context was small enough, and recent enough, he grasped ideas and could hang on, but nothing ever wrote to the hard-disk, so suddenly it was all gone and you start from nothing again.
Show threadStephan SvobodaMar 4
@rollbear @tastapod this is the sadest and most true metaphor I read so far
Show threadBjörn FahllerMar 4

@xandor9 @tastapod I should add that when the context was indeed small enough and recent enough, he could add very valuable insights from his long experience.

Yes, it is very sad. And it feels so tragically familiar.

Show threadChris OldwoodMar 5

@rollbear @xandor9 @tastapod

😢

Show threadStephan SvobodaMar 5
@rollbear @tastapod it was similar for my grandmother but the "context" had to be smaller and smaller way too fast
Show threadDaniel Terhorst-NorthMar 5
@rollbear I'm so sorry. I was thinking of using Alzheimer's as part of the metaphor but I don't want to diminish just how terrible the condition is.
Show threadBjörn FahllerMar 5
@tastapod It's OK with me, but it's wise to tread carefully.
Show threadJoel ChippindaleMar 4
@tastapod exactly. Whenever I see the comparison made it leaves me wondering what it is about this comparison that is so attractive to people given how utterly unlike working with a junior it is.
Show threadNiels AbildgaardMar 4

@tastapod One thing I keep telling the "like a junior developer" folks is: a junior developer's bad code often telegraphs itself through other signs. An LLM is optimized exactly to make its code *look like* it fits. That's much worse, more dangerous, harder to mitigate.

Is that in your rant? 😁

Show threadDaniel Terhorst-NorthMar 5
@nielsa I would say that is a direct consequence of my rant :)
Show threadNiels AbildgaardMar 5
@tastapod I always look forward to your content so please post when you find a podcast to do this on 😁
Show threadJohn Francis 🇨🇦🦫🍁💪⬆️Mar 4
@tastapod "Podcast Episode 63 - Hazing AI. Pantsing the n00b"
Show threadDaniel Terhorst-NorthMar 5
@johnefrancis Now I want to go and see Pantsing the N00b supporting Chumbawamba at Glastonbury.