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[disclaimer, spacehey makes you censor j@v@scr1pt bc it thinks ur running scripts lol. so that's what js means.]
i've been building a personal website since april, i've learned soooo much about webdev, esp css/html as well as using a static site generator (my ssg of choice is astro)
my next thing to learn is js which is a b1tch to learn on its own and i just don't have the time to sit down and learn it from scratch AND build my website
so....i've been using chatgpt lol
rn i'm working on a "video" page styled after OG youtube profile/channel layouts
i built all the html/css myself and painstakingly modeled it after this retro video sharing platform https://www.bitview.net/
then i used chatgpt to help me write the js and some astro config stuff
i kinda feel bad about it still but if i were to have sat down and tried doing it myself, i would've been spending weeks learning js and googling a thousand different stack overflow posts and reading lots of docs etc
i think ai has its uses, as long as you use it as a tool and with an idea of what you want, otherwise it just throws random shit and you won't know if it matches the end product you want
something that really surprised me was a few months ago i was talking to my art prof/mentor (graduated years ago) and she said she's started using ai in some classes as an assistive tool
i guess the argument is that it IS just a tool if you use it right, it can be super beneficial
i am still very much against emotional ai and like, ai boyfriends/girlfriends etc and stuff, that shit is whack and makes people literally go insane
but i dont know if it's such a crime to use it to help consolidate coding help i would've otherwise spent hours manually scraping off the internet just to copy & paste anyway
i'm ai agnostic
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frumpnuggets
I've been really trying to be mindful in my genAI use bc I feel this. It's not going anywhere, so we ought to gain some familiarity of it, what it's capable of, what it's useful for.
It can be a slippery slope if you're not careful, and the line between tool and crutch can blur, but I've been trying to come up with some key questions to ask myself when I think about using it - a good litmus test for me lately has honestly been "would I ask my roommate to do this if she were here (and could help me)?" if the answer is yes, then it's fine. But if it's no, it's usually because I want to ask it to do something I can totally do myself and I'm tired/lazy. Sometimes I don't realize it, but that helps.
I also like the metaphor I saw recently that was like "are you asking it to hang a window, or are you having it draw the blueprint for the whole house?" I think it comes down to the difference between automating tasks that are already pretty mundane/brainless, and actual critical/analytical thinking. I have classmates who try to use AI summaries for seminars instead of reading, and it doesn't work - you can tell. But I think asking AI, "hey, I really don't get this paragraph, what do you think it is saying?" is totally fine.
Though, I do also wonder if there's smth to be said about patience, time management, the pride of figuring things out by yourself and the good old fashioned using our brains, but I'm not totally sure about that yet. I think we could miss out on something if we go full luddite about AI and just never use it. But we do have to find that balance of not inconveniencing ourselves for pride's sake. What aspects of AI are mere acceleration of good things (e.g., the same way Google, or Wikipedia, the printing press, writing instead of speaking, have been) and what is truly being lost? I'm still trying to figure it out, but I think now that I've found a bit more of a balance, I'm learning a lot, while not losing my brain/running myself ragged in the process. I think like any new tech, it's gonna make some things better, it'll make a lot of shit worse, and it will change how we approach a lot of things that are currently very engrained in our lives.
(Sorry for writing a blog on ur blog. but those are my thoughts lmao. i have been ruminating about this a lot!! I think it's so interesting.)
wow thanks so much for such a detailed response!
i'm sick as a dog rn so i don't have much brain juice to really dig into all of this, but you've put to words the same sentiments i've had as well.
i've felt bad using it for this website stuff because i am sort of using it as a crutch when it comes to learning a new coding language
BUT....i realized that if i didn't use it, i wouldn't be able to build what i wanted for probably weeks if not months, just trying to squeeze in time to learn basic arrays, functions, etc. js is a b*tch to learn at all, let alone if ur an adult working full time with other hobbies/interests/obligations
i fully intend on learning js properly, but in the meantime i really like being able to use it for very specific purposes. i think it definitely helps that i know the basic structure of js and so i can ask very guided questions. there's been times while i've been building this page for my site that i've noticed the ai hasn't done things how i wanted, and i've been able to either go in and edit the code myself, or i know exactly what issues to target when i send a new prompt to change the output.
i guess being informed and having that background knowledge makes all the difference.
by Xavier; ; Report
Ahhh!! I'm sorry lol. You def don't have to read all my shit, I understand the brain drain
Anywho, I think you're valid in that - full disclosure, I tapped GPT a few times to get my profile code to do what I wanted to. Seeing what you've worked on, I can tell you have hella experience, and you're more than capable of learning js if you had the time and energy to. I think asking guided questions goes to show you're not having it automate the whole process. Sure, you'd learn more if you did everything on your own, but would you really even make time for it? In a way, it's kinda neat that AI has lowered the barrier to entry for a lot of new things like this and made them less daunting. I've honestly found myself picking up things from asking it questions, too. It's probably just a matter of being really engaged when you're using it, I think, rather than passive. I've read research suggesting that it's reduced critical thinking levels in folks, so I really try to be mindful because the thought of that scares me.
But honestly, even if you did just have GPT design a whole website for you, I feel like you're not really the villain. There's a lot of abhorrent uses for AI and that is like, not really one. And I think it's great you're being reflective and thinking critically about how you use it!
by frumpnuggets; ; Report
NuclearBlues
I think that when used as a supplemental and with monitoring, it can be useful. You know enough about webdev to properly monitor it for unwanted effects, as opposed to using it exclusively to "code" a website. In an academic setting I'm more apprehensive, as that's already an area with such high levels of burnout that it fosters dependence. Ultimately in its current state it's somewhat of a glorified toy with the occasionally helpful use-case.
Though there is of course the environmental issue, individual queries stack up to disastrous effects and we're currently seeing it feed into technological imperialism. As usual, environmental problems overlap very heavily with humanistic ones. There's a lot of discourse and discussion about generative AI and its effects on the front-end user as it's enough of a staple novelty, but a worrying lack of discussion of these hidden problems that is pretty characteristic of cultures based in imperialism.
yeah the environmental stuff definitely concerns me too, i feel like the ai bubble is gonna pop soon tho and things might level out after that
it sucks, because it's such a cool resource at our disposal but at odds with morals/ideals. same as still using amazon, shopping at walmart, etc.
i mean, i went vegan bc of the environmental impact and i've gotten rid of a ton of stuff that i own, trying to be more minimalist/low waste
i guess all we can do as individuals is try our best to balance our consumption and environmental footprints with other mindful ways of making a difference
by Xavier; ; Report
absolutely. I also think it's important to put as much pressure as possible on companies, obviously that's hard to do on an individual level but it's important. so much of the conversation around environmentalism is based on the individual while gigantic corporations get away with gross exploitation, including ai startups and existing corporations implementing ai features. I don't need google to summarize every search for me, I don't want the effects of that to offset the work I do in my personal life to reduce waste. it's frustrating to take personal responsibility and still see things get worse, because even if every US American were to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible, the largest corporations in the world get away with breaking their already thin regulations in the name of capital.
by NuclearBlues; ; Report