@rmflight @hrbrmstr I’ve splurged a bit of an essay here, fair warning. I’m not an AI vegan 😭 so please don’t block. It’s just a scary environment for someone like me, who isn’t a “Senior Anything”, and has been told to use LLMs at work even though I didn’t really want to…

In response to the thread: I think of it as the LLM catch-22.

As Bob says, it can make senior devs/programmers/specialists more efficient, because they usually have literally decades of experience, meaning fantastic intuition, really solid skills, and a *broad* set of skills too. I think the idea that those seniors can confidently, and effectively, use and direct LLMs, is plausible, though I personally know a couple who haven’t found that to be the case.

But. It seems many of us broadly agree that LLMs will negatively impact learners who are meant to be acquiring I guess what I’d call “domain wisdom”. The earlier in that journey someone is, the less they should be using LLMs to do their work, because doing the work is the thinking. If you aren’t thinking, good luck learning anything. Domain wisdom requires domain knowledge, so I expect these people to be acquiring very little of either.

So, how do you get from being a learner (not meant to be using LLMs for the thinking) to a senior (where it’s ok to use them)? If you’re not already a senior, that’s the LLM catch-22. “My manager says I have to use LLMs if I ever want to be a senior, but I don’t know enough to be a senior because I’ve been using LLMs so much and for so long.”

In my opinion, senior teams and possibly even the government have to address this MEANINGFULLY. If memory serves, that’s what your recommendation was in your report, Bob. Employees like me will do whatever we have to, to survive, because we need the wage. Students will likewise use LLMs if it’s the path of least resistance, because let’s face it, many of them aren’t there to learn, and even if they are may sometimes feel pressured to take an easier route. (1/2)

More and more, generative models are looking like productivity tobacco. Promoted by biased research, it’s addictive, harmful, and the little benefit it has (nicotine is a somewhat effective ADHD drug, for example) cannot outweigh the fact that it’s hurting us all, directly and indirectly.

This shit is already turning out to be one of the most harmful tech innovations of the 21st century. It needs to be regulated at least as much as tobacco, if not banned outright from most economic spheres