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Episode
300
Interview
Web News

Should Junior Developers Use ChatGPT to Help Them Write Code?

Recorded:
March 26, 2024
Released:
April 9, 2024
Episode Number:
300

AI is a hot topic these days with LLMs dominating much of the tech talk we see online. In the web development scene, chatbots like ChatGPT and Copilot are able to develop and debug code through simple conversational prompts that don't require complex developer-level knowledge. This simplicity has brought with it a lot of discussion and debate about AI's role in the development space. Will it replace all developer jobs? Is it simply another tool to increase a developer's productivity? Should aspiring junior developer use AI in their learning. In this week's episode, Matt and Mike discussed learning to code alongside ChatGPT and Copilot. The guys explored the dangers of using AI while you learn, when you should reach for a chatbot, and then touch on their thoughts surrounding the future of the industry. Will Devin take all our jobs?

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Show Notes

Inspiration

The Dangers of Relying on AI

  • AI === getting someone to do your homework
  • If you ‘code’ through AI when learning you’re not going to know any of the fundamental concepts
    • Loops, Conditionals, Object, Data structures
  • AI can be wrong and without the proper knowledge you’d have no idea why or where it is wrong
  • AI still can’t do any of the real complex tasks
  • You still can’t use AI on most coding interviews
  • Some companies don’t allow AI tools due to security 

When to use AI

  • Explaining hard-to-understand concepts in different ways
  • Generate extra examples to study
  • Review your code
  • Help solving complex problems and then help explain the solution used
  • Any repetitive tasks
    • Generating sample data
    • Filling in charts with predictable data

Future of the industry

  • AI will get better, most of the smaller apps and websites will be built using prompts rather then engineers
  • Deep knowledge will be valued more than shallow wide knowledge
    • Become an expert
  • Education will evolve with AI tools


Links

  • Michael LaRocca