> Compilation from higher order languages to the machine code is deterministic.
but that's not the analogy. there are problems that you can solve better if you can go deeper in the stack, and they can have different solutions.
are you saying ai writes code that is semantically wrong? because i dont think humans write deterministic code - they come up with different solutions to the same problem.
the process is not important for art, although it might have value for people. art is a subjective experience, one that comes to life in the obeserver.
I feel like many opinion pieces on AI coding are written from the perspective of highly experienced software engineers, often from a kind of ivory tower. (even that study they cite was based on “16 experienced open-source developers.”)
But for people who aren’t seasoned coders, these tools are incredibly valuable. I have some coding experience myself, but it’s never been my profession (I’m a visual artist). Now, I can accomplish in an afternoon what would otherwise take me days. Two months ago I left my job to work solo on my video game, and even though my budget is limited, I still make sure to keep Claude and ChatGPT. Also, being able to write something on my phone at 1 a.m. when I can’t sleep, send it to Codex, and then test it first thing in the morning at my computer feels pretty magical. It also takes away the worry of “what if this isn’t the best way to do it?” since refactoring parts of my codebase is now so easy. It helps not just with writing code, but also with removing the fear that might otherwise keep me from sitting down and getting the work done.
That said, I understand that much of the criticism is really aimed at the marketing hype around these tools and the broader “this will replace the engineers at your company” narrative.