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Comment Re:ChatGPT has been a lifesaver for me (Score 1) 237

If I was a young recent graduate, I would be very concerned about my future opportunities and I remain very concerned how such tools will have detrimental affect on society due to how well AI can replace what previously required significant expertise and experience,

That would be true if all the graduate expected to do was write code; what the graduate needs to be think is 'how can I use what I've learned to identify solutions to problems by understanding what is needed and then use the tools to deliver that." The jobs in danger are all those cheap coding shops that employ a bunch of people to churn out code; companies ill be able to do more of that in house or with shops that can understand the need and use tools to deliver it.

Comment I us eit when programming (Score 1) 237

I use it much like a community to get help with programming, asking questions such as "what does this statement do?" or "what are ways to do X?" or "What is wrong with this code ...?" or " Can I accomplish X by doing this using this code...? I don't use it to simply 'vibe code' but to help me get over a hurdle when I can't figure something out; much like how a community works but with instant response.

I view it as an adjunct and learning tool; not to simply produce cut and paste code. If it generates code I followup asking for a detailed explanation of how it works so I understand what it is doing, which I download and save for use later if needed. For example, I am using it to understand matplotlib's cmap function to generate gradient svgs t use as labels for graphs. It's a lot quicker yo ask AI to explain how it works after reading the documentation. It's also useful for answering specific questions such as "What are the hex codes for these colors...?' instead of doing a web search.

That said, the answers and code is hit or miss. Even if I wanted to , the code it generates often isn't cut and paste and I have had numerous occasions where I've followed up with 'shouldn't this line be this" to have it reply 'Yes, you are correct, let me fix it...'

As a learning tool and documentation it has been very useful expanding my knowledge as well as letting me focus in on what I am try to accomplish with my program. Instant response is also useful.

One are I have found it very useful is for documenting my code. I have it add line by line comments to my code so it is clear what is being done for future reference, as well as generate markdown documentation of the code. That way, when I deliver it, if it needs updating or changes later it is clear what I was doing and why. Without AI generated documentation my code would be littered with random comments and not really as easy to decipher.

For me, if all you do is vibe code you are replaceable by AI and a free intern; the real value is using it is to help deliver a solution based on what the client wants, which requires someone who can bridge the gap and is the human value add. That is especially true since the client often doesn't know just what they want and needs help defning it. Until AI gets good at reading minds there will be plenty of work to go around.

Comment Re:Make me an offer (Score 1) 159

Bonus: It's cheaper to ship from North Carolina than from China.

But is the total cost cheaper? I have a neighbor who sells and installs doors. He custom makes wooden ones but the big decorative iron ones are cheaper to fabricate and ship from China than source locally; teh downside is lead time since he needs to fill a container before shipping. He loaclly sources teh glass so he can replace a broken panel for the customer long after the door is installed.

Comment Re:Probably not a problem (Score 1) 159

Plus... if we're looking at something that seriously affects the economy of Southern states, it doesn't matter how much culture war bullshit Trump spews, the Republicans will make sure there's support of some kind, even if it's the usual "lessening regulations" crap that doesn't really help anyone long term.

Of course, ending stuff is only good if it doesn't impact your voters. We're already seeing that in higher profile issues such as Medicaid/SNAP and immigration where R's are realizing their voters will bear the brunt of the cuts and their farmers/construction/other industries that rely on immigrant labor will suffer and jobs be lost. Nad voters, as they see the impact in their communities are saying "That's not what I thought would happen or what I want,' well you dumb fucks he told you what he would do and you voted that way anyway, so live with the impact on you.

Comment Re:Duke Ellington (Score 1) 137

"If it sounds good it is good." - Duke Ellington

Exactly. Artists have used technology as it evolved to make music; AI is just one more technology to adapt to using. What AI is doing is giving people who can't sing or play an instrument a way to make music and sell it; treating the money stream of major labels and artists. Services like Spotify also make it easier to make money while bypassing the traditional gatekeepers; which helped small indie artists but now is adding to the competition.

Comment Re:Meanwhile.. (Score 3, Informative) 63

Injection molding is how to make more than toys. 3D printing will always be expensive, inefficient, and non-scalable.

While injection molding has cost and scale advantages, It also has large upfront costs and isn't easy changed to accomplish design improvements. There are also other costs that 3D printing can help limit, such as storage, logistics, etc. It all depends what you want to do. For DOD, the ability to customize as well as print replacements and parts deployed are key advantages; and something they have been working on for years. I remember seeing a laser 3d printer in the earlier 2000's designed to print replacement parts in the field; rather than have to airfreight parts as needed.

Comment Re:Time passes.... (Score 1) 130

I liked his movies when I was younger. These days? When I watch, the same movies just are not funny anymore.

I really wanted to see History of the World Part 2, back in the day. It never came. If it came out today, I doubt I would find it very funny.

Here you go /. Screwing up link. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

Comment Re:Weird (Score 1) 118

It's so weird that so many people are ignoring the massive accuracy issues of LLMs and have this misguided idea that you can just trust the output of a computer because... well, it's a computer. It's literally using random numbers in its text generation algorithm. Why not just use astrology?

People blindly trust computers because, well computers. I've had cashiers, for example, try to give me change for a 50ty when I gave them a five and they miss entered the amount; or ring up an item for a fraction of the correct price because and then say it is correct when I point it out, because well, computer.

Comment Re:Weird (Score 1) 118

It's so weird that so many people are ignoring the massive accuracy issues of LLMs and have this misguided idea that you can just trust the output of a computer because... well, it's a computer. It's literally using random numbers in its text generation algorithm. Why not just use astrology?

Sorry, this attitude is an example of holding the phone wrong. Only an idiot would blindly trust the output an an LLM or a Google search or a Wikipedia entry or a webpage or any computer program.

Unfortunately, we are surrounded by idiots...

Comment Re:asking for screwups (Score 1) 118

Chemists here. Outside of Alpha-fold, which is an astounding success based on a large but limited and curated data set, AI hasn't shown much use in replacing chemist. It's very difficult to capture the chemical literature in an accurate and meaningful way. And with the explosion in the volume of scientific publishing, you can bet a lot of the newer stuff isn't high quality. LLM's don't know how to capture structures. My forays into asking for structural information turn up nonsense. Unfortunately, if you're doing anything these days, you're gonna have to say you're using AI to be considered serious, regardless of whether it works or not.

Good points. My limited exerience with AI in technical areas is that don't discern between the various quality of reports, and seem to value quantity over quality.

Comment Re:He will be missed (Score 1) 53

I had a coworker who dealt with that situation by double-spacing his code. A blank line on every other line.

Love that. I've done a lot of work on metrics and constantly have to explain to clients to think about what behaviors it will drive because we all are good at figuring out how to game them. When I worked at a big consulting firm billable hours were the key; most of my projects were fixed cost with prices high enough tha my actual hours vs billable ratio was less than one, and often a lot less. So when I was close to my target I'd give other team members hours if they were in danger of falling short so they would not get dinged at bonus time. Since the contracts were fixed costs, it whether I billed 1 hour or 1000 to the project did not impact the client at all; my only constraint was not billing so many that the project had less than a 25% margin, but also not more than 25%. The games we play to get our cheese...

Comment Re:Hypercard could have been basis of internet (Score 1) 53

Steve Jobs made a lot of good future-oriented decision for the first Mac. But he didn't build in networking from the start, which eh later acknowledged was an oversight. Similarly, Hypercard was a fascinating single user experience for hyperlinked content. I did some early hobby programming on it and was impressed how you could make something cool with it. But imagine if it would have offered seamless connection to other hypercard stacks on remote computers from the beginning, it could have changed the way we see the internet. Atkinson was indeed a genius... MacPaint, Quickdraw routines, Hypercard. Impressive!

No doubt. Killing HyperCard was a big mistake, IMHO, when you think of what could have been. I played with it on my ][gs. It was powerful and relatively intuitive, and had Apple moved forward could have been a major player in today's internet. Of course, that would have meant Apple would have had to expand it to Windows but doing so very well might have created the first cross platform browser. Given Jobs' focus on design, the net might be a vastly different experience had he pushed HyperCard development forward; and the Mac a preferred development tool. What might have been; although some things live on like the finger pointer cursor. Every time you see one think of Bill and his gifts to us...

Comment Re:40 times its current output is planned? (Score 1) 47

As you point out

WR extended power uprates increase the core flow along the Maximum Extended Load Line Limit Analysis (MELLLA) rod line in a range of core flow from just less than rated core flow to the maximum licensed core flow. This approach allows power increases up to 120% OLTP

, which reduces core void fraction, increasing moderation and power output of the reactor. However, what matters is what you can put on the grid and i should have been clearer that a plant can uprate significantly higher than the op’s 5or so percent via a comprehensive update.

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