Post ATqIlrFqfOBX2hzFQm by benmschmidt@vis.social
(DIR) More posts by benmschmidt@vis.social
(DIR) Post #ATqF5mBIq5DLHc6RaC by TedUnderwood@sigmoid.social
2023-03-21T13:27:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Influencers on Twitter say their AI writing/coding strategy will make you 3x as productive. š§ Idk about professional SWEs, but given my mix of work, the multiplier is more like 1.03x. But here's the thing: 1.03x on tasks that have been 1.00 for several decades is amazing. Over time, that extra 3% compounds.
(DIR) Post #ATqGJEzN90qoLZVU5w by paddy@sigmoid.social
2023-03-21T13:41:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TedUnderwood Maybe for those influencers it is closer to 3x. I imagine the benefit people get may be inversely proportional to their coding experience. If they donāt code a lot, then AI could make a huge difference.For example, when my brother was learning to code he would occasionally spend 30 minutes trying to find an off-by-one error that Iād spot straight away with only a little more experience. AI can find those types of mistakes quickly, which could be a huge productivity boost.
(DIR) Post #ATqGiusKY59lUkSL8y by TedUnderwood@sigmoid.social
2023-03-21T13:46:03Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I think this is a slow burn. The impact in the next 5 years may "only" be smartphone-sized. But smartphone impacts are probably leveling off now, and I don't think AI will level off in 15 years.
(DIR) Post #ATqIlrFqfOBX2hzFQm by benmschmidt@vis.social
2023-03-21T14:08:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TedUnderwood Are you actually using it for coding? IMO 3% for coding tasks is quite low using, e.g., copilot. Some people working in strongly typed languages may have IDEs that can already do a lot of the autocomplete stuff... but in python/javascript I find it extremely useful, to the point that I always write ipynb in vscode now rather than localhost:8888.Conversely I can't really imagine using it for writing in any non-trivial way.
(DIR) Post #ATqM13fL6WPLk1qjzM by TedUnderwood@sigmoid.social
2023-03-21T14:45:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@benmschmidt I'm in an admin role right now, so I've used it for coding only occasionally; that's why I've got that caveat in there about SWEs. As I transition back into a heavier coding rhythm I do expect the multiplier to go above 1.03! I do use it in writing but the multiplier is like 1.02 there.
(DIR) Post #ATqMDIS7x7p94qVPGq by scott_bot@hcommons.social
2023-03-21T14:14:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@benmschmidt @TedUnderwood I've used it in several long-form writing projects to help organize thoughts and get out of blocks, so it helps get me started. During intense writing sessions, it (along with any autocomplete) feels like it gets in the way.
(DIR) Post #ATqMDJ6tVYQx7HZxoW by benmschmidt@vis.social
2023-03-21T14:25:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@scott_bot @TedUnderwood since I blog in VScode it sometimes gets toggled onā¦ I find it uniformly bad. While thatās a much weaker model, My writing problem is invariably pruning my own tangents and I havenāt seen anything that would help.
(DIR) Post #ATqMDJbjet6Uew0asy by TedUnderwood@sigmoid.social
2023-03-21T14:47:33Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@benmschmidt @scott_bot That's a really good take on what most ppl need in writing, and it also exposes the interesting problem that judgment is going to be hard to automate. We can build an editor that tells people (correctly) "this needs to be half as long, so cut this this and this." The challenge will beāwhat it already isāforcing people to listen.
(DIR) Post #ATqPymNMofOzM5c0ci by nabsiddiqui@h-net.social
2023-03-21T15:29:41Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TedUnderwood @benmschmidt @scott_bot I ran GPT3 for like a month with my writing tasks in VSCode. I also used ChatGPT4. Like everyone else, I didn't really get much benefit. I ended up having to discard almost everything, and the time spent prompt engineering or editing was really long. I could have written it in half the time.
(DIR) Post #ATqT8I8yNCZILm6g8u by shelldozer@oldbytes.space
2023-03-21T16:05:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TedUnderwood ...for at least *some* definition of "productive"...?