Generative AI and Programming

It is hard not to be impressed with the parlour trick that is AI in 2024, but up until now I have been sceptical about it having valuable uses, especially for programming. Up until the second half of this year, I didn't use AI in any meaningful sense.

But this has changed, largely because of a IDE called Cursor, which is basically Visual Studio Code with AI built in. From the first time that I used it, I was taken by how much quicker it makes development for me. My best estimate is that it takes me about 50% of the time that I used to need to make things, and I can do something additional things that were previously just out of reach.

The thing that impresses me most is that it clearly watches and learns from how I personally code. I know this because I have particular habits of mind as I code and it makes suggestions that are mostly what I would do next. And when I need a new trick, I ask it and it (mostly) gives me a useful suggestion.

There are frustrations and limitations, of course. While get to choose which suggestions to use, I have found that I don't really keep a close handle on all the ins and outs of the program, and I have had to start again once. But even that was not so bad because I understood the overall shape of the finished program by that point, and that's often the most mentally taxing part.

I think that it works well for someone like me, because I know what to ask for and have a pretty good idea if the suggested code will do what I want. But I have noticed that my students have much more mixed results. Some can tame the beast at this point, but most find themselves in a morass of code that they can't actually work with.

Things are changing so fast in the field of generative AI that these words might well be laughable in the weeks or months to come. But from now I am less of a cynic and happy to have the help.

08:58 pm, December 2, 2024

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My Old Ass

Last night we were utterly at a loss for what to watch on the telly. Then Nicky remembered that she had heard good things about this film. It's that rare beast these days, a film with modest ambitions and an original idea.

Our protagonist is a young Canadian woman, about to leave her rural home for the city. When she is getting high with there friends, she sees her 39-year old self from the future. Complicatons ensure.

This film manages to be neither glib nor self-serious, and I enjoyed it. If you liked it, leave a comment.

Hang on, I haven't built a comments function. I'll just assume you enjoyed it.

11:47 am, December 1, 2024

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Paddington

One of the kids suggested that we have a family movie night last night and we found common agreement on Paddington. As it happened, she walked out of the room to do something else after about 15 minutes, but I stayed for the whole movie and I certainly enjoyed Paddington.

Some of the animation was a bit obviously fake, but it's about a migrant being accepted into modern English so you have to suspend disbelief pretty early on.

And I do find a parade of stars in small roles a bit unnecessary and distracting, but it's their movie, not mine. Overall, it's a really good romp and If you have't seen it then you probably should.

05:42 pm, November 30, 2024

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The Joy of a $5 Record

I was listening to this record over the last day or so and I was quite enjoying it, for what might seem like an odd reason. Basically, it was dirt cheap. And when I am listening to a record that only cost me five or ten dollars, then I don't really have to enjoy it that much for it to feel like a win.

Conversely, I sometimes feel a bit let down by a $70 record (not that I own many of these) because I am just expecting a lot from them, perhaps too much.

08:22 pm, November 28, 2024

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