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Submission + - The oral tradition that built software may not survive AI (fastcompany.com)

smooth wombat writes: Writing software is not just about knowing what to code. Verbally passing on knowledge of why something is done one way or the other, how to diagnose an issue, or what changes took place after implementation because no one documented those changes has been part of programming since day one. However, with the advent of AI, that institutional knowledge may be under threat.

It’s tempting therefore to imagine that generative AI will step into the breach and solve this for us. After all, even if you don’t want to turn a large language model (LLM) loose on a legacy code base—and there are plenty of reasons that you shouldn’t—having it generate documentation on the codebase itself might sound like a solution to the absence of other written information. LLMs can certainly summarize code back to you.

But hold up with that idea. Beyond hallucinations, there’s a deeper problem: Writing documentation is itself part of the thinking process. Whether I’m writing history or software, putting an approach into words helps refine it before I sink hours into implementation. Documentation also captures intent. An LLM may be able to summarize what a codebase does, but it cannot reliably explain why a developer chose one approach over another, or what trade-offs shaped that decision.

Moreover, it’s a chance for somebody else to understand why you did what you did. If they plan to change what I wrote (especially in a few years), they might understand why I needed to write it that way and what might be lost if you take it out. An LLM can read code that I’ve written. It might even scan a large codebase and accurately summarize what it’s doing. But it can’t assess authorial intent.

Comment Re: Say what you will re: free trade or protection (Score 2) 129

nd they're raking in cash thanks to the massive increase in the price of oil from Trump's war in the Middle East.

Ukraine is seeing to it they don't by destroying oil refineries. Right now there are at least 5 big refineries out of commission for the next month or more. That doesn't include reduced loading capacity at several different terminals which have been struck or pumping stations which no longer work.

Comment Re:Question (Score 1) 61

Why is it problematic? As I asked, how is this any different than asking people to help with a particular passage? If they give you suggestions and you act on those suggestions, is it not "fruit of the poisonous tree"? It's not your work any longer, is it? It's the work they gave you.

I am not defending the wholesale use of AI in writing. I'm asking only about specific lines or maybe a paragraph, where you know it's not right, but aren't sure how to correct it.

Beta readers are technically doing the same thing. You give your work to them and they offer you suggestions for changes or edits. No different than AI/LLM.

Comment Question (Score 4, Interesting) 61

Let us suppose you are writing a story/book and you know there are places which you just can't quite get the wording the way you want it.

If you plug only that portion into an LLM and ask for suggestions, would that be considered "cheating"? If so, why would that be any different than asking someone, or someones, to read what you wrote and offer suggestions?

I'm not saying that's what happened here, clearly it was all written by a machine, but is using such a tool to edit your work or get suggestions, bad?

Comment Re:Why are people calling these things âoepre (Score 1) 132

They're not gambling if you have a real-world stake in an outcome addressed by one of these markets.

I have a real-world stake in the outcome of a roulette spin. Either I win money or I don't. How is that any different than saying I win or lose if something happens or doesn't happen on one of these markets?

Comment Re:Most requested feature...that you removed (Score 2) 98

For some reason, the Control Panel is still here after 10+ years of trying to get the Settings app to be feature complete

Because Control Panel is the best and fastest way to find what you want. It is clearly laid out, descriptive, and allows you to get things done.

Whereas, Settings is configured as if someone threw a ball of yarn into a box and let a cat play with it, then the cat threw up from playing so hard.

Comment And that's why (Score 4, Interesting) 42

I download all my books DRM-free from bittorrent.

My ebook reader is an ancient Sony PRS-650, it still works fine and it has no trouble reading files that haven't been messed up by Amazon. What a concept eh?

"What about the book's authors who aren't getting paid when you download their stuff for free?" I hear you say:

Yes, I wish I could pay for what I downloaded. But I can't. The best option I could find was to buy the paperback as well, so some of my money would trickle back to them. But that's mighty stupid and totally not environmentally-friendly.

I did try to pay an author directly once (the late Ian M. Banks) but he send me an angry email back saying even if he got money from me, I was robbing his editor and distributor, and I should just buy his book normally - which I would, if that didn't entail leaving an undeserved cut to effing Amazon.

So there we are: there's no mechanism to legally buy books that aren't hamstrung by DRM. So honest people who value their consumer rights can't be honest.

Comment Truly ignorant author lives in cities too much (Score 2) 108

"The use of wood as an energy source is a relic of the past, one that should not be relived if given a choice.

Wood burning is very much alive - both old-stylee polluting open-fires and stoves, and ultra-efficient pellet, wood-chip and wood dust burning in power stations. And it's renewable. Try visiting any nordic country some day...

Also, just because burning wood has downsides doesn't mean it has to be ditcheds it entirely. Solve the downsides instead...

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