The Programmer Identity Crisis

I think in a few years, we will realize that LLMs have impacted our lives in a deeply negative way. The relatively small improvements LLMs bring to my life will be vastly outweighted by the negatives.

If LLM abilities stagnate around the current level it's not even out of the question that LLMs will negatively impact productivity simply because of all of the AI slop we'll have to deal with.

Hmmm. Interesting prediction. I think even on social media, the consensus is still shaky, and social media is an unalloyed bad IMHO. I think personal cars impacted our lives in a deeply negative way but most people disagree. There is really no consensus on LLMs right now, I think if they stagnate this is where the discourse will stagnate also.

More likely, like other tools, it will be possible to point to clear harms and clear benefits, and people will disagree about the overall impact.

Let's be clear about one thing, though. LLMs are simply tools, which can be used for good or for bad. It's specific people who do and promote the latter - top management of tech companies, for example. It's those people who are creating the negatives in my life and who tank quality for the sake of "productivity". Point the finger and say it out loud. They shouldn't be able to hide behind the tech.