alt Hacker NewsAI-generated code is meant for the machine, or for the author/prompter. AI-generated text is typically meant for other people. I think that makes a meaningful difference.
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Compiled code is meant for the machine, Written code is for other humans.
This is precisely correct IMHO.
Communication is for humans. It's our super power. Delegating it loses all the context, all the trust-building potential from effort signals, and all the back-and-forth discussion in which ideas and bonds are formed.
> Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.
from the preface of SICP.
A lot of writing (maybe most) is almost the same. Code is a means of translating a process into semantics a computer understands. Most non-fiction writing is a means of translating information or an idea into semantics that allow other people to understand that information or idea.
I don’t think either is inherently bad because it’s AI, but it can definitely be bad if the AI is less good at encoding those ideas into their respective formats.
At the same time, AI-generated code has to be correct and precise, whereas AI-generated text doesn't. There's often no 'correct solution' in AI-generated text.
Code can be viewed as design [1]. By this view, generating code using LLMs is a low-effort, low-value activity.
[1] Code as design, essays by Jack Reeves: https://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/articles/reeves_design_...