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Programmers Will Be Replaced by People with Ideas

https://www.cleverthinkingsoftware.com/programmers-will-be-replaced-by-people-with-ideas/
12•Todd•3h ago

Comments

blackbear_•3h ago
> Error establishing a database connection

Oh, the irony.

shadowgovt•3h ago
Maybe they can get an LLM to replace their dynamic blog site with a statically-generated HTML page.
ryao•2h ago
Only if they already know the concept to be able to ask about it. Otherwise, I would expect the LLM to suggest increasing the number of database connections, which punts the problem without actually fixing it. Maybe if it is being really clever, it will suggest they use a HA database and then completely fail to show them how to do it.

A LLM is basically a digital parrot. It has no intuition for what makes solutions good or bad, but it will happily parrot things that seem relevant, even when faced with evidence that they are not. It is enough to pass a number of undergraduate programming exams (especially since graders often give partial credit), but it is not enough to solve real world problems.

misiek08•3h ago
Damn, was just writing that, you won.

Mid engineers will disappear, but people who know what they are doing - in a few years will be kidnapped to cleanup LLM generated mess.

Traubenfuchs•3h ago
Ah, I get it. There is no real article with that title.

It‘s just some kind of ironic art. Clever!

system2•3h ago
Error establishing a database connection is a good way of backing up this theory.
zwnow•3h ago
If I got a dollar for every time someone says "Programmers will be replaced by..." I'd be replaced by retirement.
Suppafly•3h ago
I remember being in college in the early 2000s and asking a professor about that, and he mentioned that they'd been saying it since the 70s (at least) and it hasn't gotten any closer to being a reality.
zwnow•2h ago
If something happens it is programmers becoming more needed than ever after all the vibe coded apps break
exolymph•3h ago
Programmers are people with ideas. Without the ideas, you can't write the code.
actsasbuffoon•28m ago
Seriously. Last Thursday I experimented with making a prototype. I showed it at standup the following day. Literally five minutes after standup an executive PM’d me and said, “Can you show me what you just showed to the other engineers?”

And now we’re rapidly adjusting our roadmap and a bunch of people on the business side of the company have been reaching out to find out more about my prototype. The executive even called me on Saturday because he was so excited that he’d been doing research and wanted more details.

I had one guy in sales today tell me that this was the most exciting thing he’s seen in the 3+ years he’s been with the company.

Developers have ideas and skills. Everyone has ideas. Developers are the ones who can execute on those ideas.

johnea•3h ago
"See, I'm an idea man, Chuck. I got ideas coming at me all day..."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(film)

The drop line is the funniest though:

"Wait a second... hold the phone! Hold the phone! [speaking into tape recorder] Idea to eliminate garbage. Edible paper. You eat it, it's gone! You eat it, it's outta there! No more garbage!"

What'll they think of next? Just wait till "vibe ideas" put the idea men out of work 8-/

johnaspden•3h ago
Programmers will be replaced by whatever the superintelligence makes out of their atoms.
mamcx•3h ago
Well, I don't deny the possibility, but...

Have you looked at the ideas people had?

mysterydip•2h ago
It's a jump... to conclusions mat!
MattPalmer1086•3h ago
I get it - programmers are seeing an existential threat to their livelihood and they're trying to figure out what comes next. Some talk about how it will boost their productivity. Others talk about how coding wasn't what they really did, it was understanding business requirements. Some point out that AI is actually really crap and it can't really replace them. This is saying they should leverage it to become entrepreneurs.

These are all good conversations to have. We don't know where all this is going, but things are going to change.

jemmyw•3h ago
Lots of people have ideas. Good ideas. I've got ideas. Ideas are hard to execute on, and not just the programming side. LLMs aren't going to help as much as the author thinks, you get about 1 level of complexity down and they need a lot more direction.
smtuttle13•3h ago
Isn't anyone going to mention Fred Brooks' "No Silver Bullet" paper? 8-)
jasonthorsness•3h ago
The act of programming is changing, but I doubt LLMs are ready to replace clear thinking and the ability to maintain simplicity in the face of the ambiguity and complexity requirements.
brador•2h ago
AI has been the greatest boost to my productivity since the instant feedback loop of PHP.

Every step it’s right there making me faster. It’s like horse drawn cart straight to a rocket ship. Invigorating, stimulating. I’m averaging 4 hours sleep because I just love creating with this tool.

juancn•1h ago
Yeah, because the hard part of a business is the ideation not the execution

/s

drewcoo•37m ago
Ideas are cheap.

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