Okay.
There is something that has been bugging me and I'd like to hear the community's opinion on it.
Why is the use of AI is widely encouraged in code generation but everyone frowns at it for (written) content generation?
I have come across a lot of posts that simply demonise writers for using AI in generating their content. It even goes beyond the written content. There's a whole campaign now on blacklisting writers who use Dalle-A images for their article/writing covers.
When it comes to code generation, however, I saw a founder saying he won't hire you if you don't show sufficient proof that you use AI for code generation.
Let's talk about this.
Top comments (9)
There is a cultural expectation that "content" — or human-to-human communication is directly created by humans. And there are lots of expectations hanging in the balance because of this.
Code is compiled and read by computers, without a direct cultural conotation.
With that said, I do think some types of content could easily have a culture shift towards accepted AI generation, but I don't think it would be right to shift everything in this direction. For example, I would be okay with AI-generated "docs". But I am not so much okay with AI-generated content where the authorship is assigned to a person.
I understand this, but isn't technical content supposed to serve the aim of educating? If the content (AI-generated) educates you, doesn't it mean that the purpose was achieved?
That is generally followed but I wonder why people would be against using AI for covers.
Let me explain...
Imagine reading a tutorial with a complex AI-generated tone.. it would be super irritating, that is why It's recommended to avoid using AI for content.
While when you include your own experience or opinions, the content feels authentic and much more validated.
On the other hand with code, the goal is simply to have a functional website or product, users don't really care about the underlying codebase. So using AI there is perfectly acceptable imo.
It's completely fine to use Dalle images as covers as long as they align with the content (nothing clickbait), I use static banner on all my posts just to maintain a consistent style.
Yeah, writing is more relatable when there are human experiences or anecdotes attached to it. I totally agree.
However, I believe that the primary aim of technical content is to educate. If it does this—educating—then what's the problem?
That's how I see it.
AI-generated content might be considered deceitful. Code isn't the same way.
This is true. This much I agree with.
I would even challenge that "AI is widely encouraged in code generation". And if a founder says "he won't hire you if you don't show sufficient proof that you use AI for code generation" I'd gladly walk away... because he does not need me to be his AI-babysitter.
AI generated content is the new form of plagiarism. Let's say I want to write an article about the print function in Python, and I find Bob's (imaginary person) pre-existing article about the print function in Python. If I take half of his article, edit it a little bit, and plop it into my own article, is that plagiarism (yes, of course)?
So what's the difference if you use AI? You're still taking someone else's work, editing it a little bit, and calling it your own. Even if you credit ChatGPT, you've still just copied and pasted a work that isn't yours. All that as well as the fact that AI is biased, hallucinogenic, and wildly inaccurate (on the occasion).
As for the difference between AI generated writing & code, I'll refer to the example that I initially made. If I take Bob's code, does anyone really care? Not really. Of course, Bob would have a problem if I copied his codebase and called it my own, but a few lines of code really isn't plagiarizing. Same thing with AI generated code.
Edit: all that being said, there are occasions where I absolutely approve of the use of AI. I know someone whose first language isn't English, and AI really helps them to "clean up" their articles.
Most AI-generated content is of low quality, lacking details and specificity. It's no surprise that Google has started to devalue websites filled with such low-quality AI-generated content in its search results.