Oddbean new post about login | logout @4ebb1885 @0683504d having to learn how to sidestep problems doesn’t sound like much of an endorsement. Indeed it sounds very much like it adds new problems. It seems remarkably unhelpful to add problems that require deep expertise to sidestep.
@43b5df12 @0683504d Right: if someone tells you "LLMs are easy! They'll give you a huge productivity boost right out of the gate" then that person is misleading you My message is "LLMs are surprisingly difficult to use. I have managed to get enormous productivity boosts after investing a lot of effort in learning how to use them effectively."
@4ebb1885 @0683504d the large investment path isn’t as terrifying as having to sidestep problems. I want to focus on the fact that it introduces problems that require deep expertise to side-step. That’s daunting. Folks get incredible productivity gains from the pomodoro method and don’t have to stidestep subtle, difficult-to-even-identify problems.
@43b5df12 @0683504d I'm increasingly seeing evidence that convinces me that it helps, rather than hurts, new programmers - some notes on that here: https://simonwillison.net/2023/Sep/29/llms-podcast/#does-it-help-or-hurt-new-programmers