[_aavaa_]

This is such a tired argument.

Could people write scientific code without python? If they can't, did they really do it in the first place?

Could people write code without use after free bugs without using a GC'd language? If they can't, did they really do it in the first place?

Could people make a website without WYSIWYG editor? If they can't, did they really make a website?

[jennyholzer3]

I think LLMs have aggressively facilitated the rise of illiteracy in people attending software development university programs.

I think graduates of these programs are far, far worse software developers than they were in the recent past.

edit: i think you mean "irrelevant", not "irreverent". that being said, my response is an expansion of the point made in my comment that you replied to.

[amelius]

> I think LLMs have aggressively facilitated the rise of illiteracy in people attending software development university programs.

But this subthread is about interns who did not study CS, and are able to create advanced UIs using LLMs in the short time they had left to finish their project.

[_aavaa_]

I'll start by saying that this seems irreverent to my previous comment.

That being said, I half agree but I think we see things differently. Based on what I've seen, the "illiterate" are those who would have otherwise dropped out or done a poor job previously. Now instead of exiting the field, or slowly shipping code they didn't understand (because that has always been a thing) they are shovelling more slop.

That's a problem, but it's at most gotten worse rather than come out of thin air.

But, there are still competent software engineers and I have seen with my own eyes how AI usage makes them more productive.

Similarly, some of those "illiterate" are those who now have the ability to make small apps for themselves to solve a problem they would not be able to before, and I argue that's a good thing.

Ultimately, people care about the solution to their problems, not the code. If (following the original anecdote) someone with an LLM can build a UI for their project I frankly don't think it matters whether they understood the code. The UI is there, it works, and they can get one with the thing that is actually important: using the UI for their bigger goal.