That people are taking ChatGPT seriously for coding tells you more about the state of software engineering as a discipline than it does about the state of machine learning as a technology.
@andrewt I think that it can help beginners a lot with very simple programming concepts. Things like declaring and initializing variables, loops, etc.
It’s when you try to get it to write more full programs is where you get lots of hiccups. Or even straight up programs that won’t run at all
@ethandoescode @andrewt It's better at helping experts expand their area of expertise.
The problem for beginners is that they can't tell the difference between the 90% very useful answers and 10% absolute crap made-up answers.
Plus, AI tools like CoPilot learn from their "style", which for new coders, essentially means it just helps lock in bad habits.
But for someone with enough generalized experience in the field to be able to spot and avoid that stuff, they're incredible for learning new languages and APIs.
@LouisIngenthron @andrewt
Agreed.
I would say if a beginner used services like chatGPT and then cross referenced with official documentation in a “trust but verify” manner, it would be more effective.