Differences in perception of the consequences large language models

[Doug Cuff]

Long before ChatGPT was a gleam in Sam Altman's eye, the stance of most people including managers was "Anyone can write!" Now that AI is at our throats, the rats are deserting a ship that they perceive to be sinking. Who needs technical writers?

I'm going to try to remain amused as long as I can, especially after a week in which I learned that software developers are more easily replaced by AI than tech writers are.

One big idea behind BASIC was "Anyone can program!" And that's where I started. I dabbled with BASIC, with perl, with Inform, with PHP, with SQL queries, and with Python. Not enough to do it for a living, but enough to grasp the portable concepts.

So this week and last, I asked a LLM platform (I won't specify) to code me up:

- a fix for PowerPoint slides counting up (5) instead of down (2 slides remaining)

- a Pandoc filter to convert Word tables to Sphinx's list-tables (because my Pandoc doesn't support the --list-tables argument)

It went fast. It went faster because I knew enough about programming to spot some incorrect assumptions and fix bugs, but it still went fast. It went slower because I kept adding robustness checks and because I caved to endless suggestions to improve, but it still went fast.

Sure, I'm happy I'm not twenty-somethin' years old and starting out as a technical writer. But I'm quite a bit happier that I'm starting out as a software developer.

[Doug Cuff]

I meant to close with the sentence "But I'm quite a bit happier that I'm NOT starting out as a software developer."

Mea culpa. I left out the not. Again. At least I didn't type "now" when I meant "not."

Doug

[Tony Chung]

I hear you, Doug. I snuck into tech writing through the back door of Web development. And now I’ve migrated solely into documentation tool support. AI tools have helped me navigating learning new frameworks quickly to get sample code working. Then I enhance it with my own vision (good or bad).

I started working on a photo gallery/slideshow app that I’ve open sourced to get others to contribute ideas towards. The URL is: https://github.com/codemaestro/platypix … although, after using customized deployments for three different events, I have more ideas to rebuild the app from the ground up and deploy it a different way in Google cloud.

But that’s less technical writing, and more app development informed by the usability awareness afforded me by my experience as a technical writer. It’s a full circle: web development taught me what the developer audience needs from documentation. Technical writing taught me content strategy and information architecture to speak to that audience. Being both the user and the writer helps me to navigate the best of both worlds.

Because AI can only share from what has been done before, it can’t take that human aspect of wonder and ingenuity away from us. Sure, it will eventually be able to connect different ideas, but I doubt the algorithms will be able to discern the value or utility of those connections.

-Tony

[sereshk 146]

Thanks for sharing this!

I couldn't agree more - almost: Except, I am a full-fledged tech writer, happy about it and, I know a thing or two about AI - and one thing is very true about it in programming, writing or anywhere else you want to use it:
* It should fit the purpose as per programming of its specific algorithms; for complex tasks that can become pretty costly, i.e. expensive...

* It should always be clear, where the data it was programmed and trained on comes from.

* Results of any output should be checked carefully.

Therefore, no, tech writers won't be a 'yesterday's model', not by a long chalk. ;) Same way developers won't: 
You need human and actual brains behind the work.

AI hasn't got any... it's got algorithms that look for patterns, basically, and either re-assemble their findings from new data in a likely manner - or make predictions.

What *can* make them appear human is the fact that similar language models are used to make them 'talk', printing it in an output box, or using voice generators to make it appear to be a human voice...

And I am also testing and using AI for special projects I wouldn't finish on my own because complex CSS/HTML-coding is involved. It wouldn't probably be done in the first place without AI, because as so often is the case in any business, resources are limited. 

When you know how to 'prompt' it (in more senses then one :) ) it can be helpful.

But one should look out for cost and effect (in terms of effort as well as power consumption...)

No, humans will not 'go out of fashion'... 

AI can become pretty dangerous when in the wrong hands; but it is a tool and machine, first and last and therefore cannot replace humans. 

At the beginning and end it is humans, any day. 

Happy 'prompting'!

Kind Regards

Nina

[Matt Danda]

I was curious about your typo because I have been wondering if I could use AI to transition from technical writer to software developer. I already know quite a lot about the software development industry, but I don't know the intricacies of programming. I could leverage AI (combined with my theoretically superior prompt writing skills) to fill that gap, right?

PS

My son recently graduated from a good university with a CS degree, and he gave up on finding a coding job after six months. He is now a STEM teacher at an elementary school in Korea. Honestly, that route is probably better suited to his personality, but, still. 

*** Matthew Danda

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[sereshk 146]

Hello Matthew,

just a short comfort, if any: The hype actually is going out of AI, because it is really expensive, needs human control and human intervention.

Also, the hopes of quick, fast and high ROIs aren't being fulfilled either...at all.

Try using your favourite AI-search engine (as opposed to a GPT ;) ) and start researching, checking sources on the go as well for this; I like to use perplexity.ai now and again, it includes sources to the answer right there and it is easy to check for errors. (Checking sources and possible mistakes with AI is always crucial. As has been mentioned before.)

But of course there are others out there!

It's sure that humans will be needed to control and manage AI, input as well as output. Some required skills in detail may change or need to be adapted. 

And businesses and managers are starting to realize this, too.

'Prompting' as an example, just for one: You need a good idea of what you want to have done/generated, pictures for example, or code solutions. You also need enough skills to be able to check the output for correctness. 
I find it helpful with my previous experience in IT in general and in particular, to think of commands and short sentences to direct someone, then take it from there. 
The concept of prompting is rather old really... ;) a little like 'triggering', only less lightly...or just think why it's called 'command prompt' in other surroundings/interfaces.

In short: Human language is no mathematics and that's what makes it sophisticated, multi-layered - and often just beautiful. Human.

All the best to you and your son and heads up!

Kind Regards

Nina