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Nobody knows how to build with AI yet

(worksonmymachine.substack.com)
526 points Stwerner | 6 comments | 19 Jul 25 15:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.839s | source | bottom
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gngoo ◴[20 Jul 25 09:24 UTC] No.44623319[source]▶
To me it feels like I’m in the camp of people who has already figured it out. And I have now learned the hard way that it’s almost impossible to teach others (I organized several meetups on the topic).

The ability seems like pure magic. I know that there are others who have it very easy now building even complex software with AI and delivering project after project to clients at record speed at no less of quality as they did before. But the majority of devs who won’t even believe that it’s remotely possible to do so is also not helping this style of building/programming mature.

I wouldn’t even call it vibe coding anymore. I think the term hurts what it actually is. For me it’s just a huge force multiplier, maybe 10-20x of my ability to deliver with my own knowledge and skills on a web dev basis.

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Sammi ◴[20 Jul 25 09:34 UTC] No.44623365[source]▶
It's just hard to believe something is real when it's not reproducible.
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1. real-hacker ◴[20 Jul 25 09:52 UTC] No.44623476[source]▶
The spec, or prompts system, whatever you call it, is more like a recipe than code. It doesn't automatically generate the dishes; a good cook is still needed.
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2. Sammi ◴[20 Jul 25 09:58 UTC] No.44623512[source]▶
Yes and culinary schools exist and create new cooks in a reproducible way. Why can't coding with ai be taught?
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3. intrasight ◴[20 Jul 25 10:15 UTC] No.44623610[source]▶
I fully expect that in 1-2 years that SWE curriculum will have AI coding as a major feature. The question I have is will students be required to do their first year or first assignments in a given course without AI.

My ex teaches UX. We were talking about AI in academia last week. She said that she requires students to not use AI on their first assignment but on subsequent ones they are permitted to.

4. Xss3 ◴[20 Jul 25 10:46 UTC] No.44623825[source]▶
Because LLMs arent calculators. Theyre non deterministic. Recipes and dishes are predictably reproducible, ai output isnt.
5. Anon1096 ◴[20 Jul 25 12:51 UTC] No.44624740[source]▶
I disagree with the OP that AI coding can't be taught. My answer to why so many people have trouble would be that they refuse to learn. I see tons of people who are insanely biased against AI and then when they try and use it they give up after the first go (having tried a horrible application of AI like making a functioning production app with 1 single prompt, no one using AI for work is using it like that). They also don't take any suggestions on using it better because "I've tried it before and it sucked."

If you asked me months ago whether "prompt engineering" was a skill I'd have said absolutely not, it's no different than using stack overflow and writing tickets, but having watched otherwise skilled devs flounder I might have to admit there is some sort of skill needed.

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6. stephenlf ◴[20 Jul 25 17:31 UTC] No.44627339{3}[source]▶
FWIW, some people need training on using stack overflow and writing good tickets