[JohnFen]

> ChatGPT is already better than 90% of working software engineers for generating small practical programs.

Not sure how you measure this. However, if by "small practical programs" you mean "trivial programs", then I see no reason to doubt your assertion.

That said, at least where I work, ChatGPT hasn't been a real benefit for real work. By the time you manage to craft the right prompts, then check and correct the code produced, then incorporate it into the larger project, it all takes a bit more time and effort than if you just wrote it yourself in the first place.

[shon]

100% John, I do mean trivial programs.

It’s the stuff that you should not bother an engineer to do, but it can’t be done (in a reasonable timeframe) by a business person or even a technical IT person who isn’t proficient at code.

There’s a space there, a practical need for things that are boring or obnoxious for an actual SWE but that fill some business need or use case. ChatGPT fills these in nicely.