"Theodore Tso" <[email protected]> writes: > On the other hand, it's unquestionable that the fact that calculators > are incredibly cheap (a four function calculator runs for maybe $3 > USD) has meant that there has been a decline in the ability of people > to do math in their heads. > > As another example, compilers have *definitely* resulted in people no > longer as good at writing assembly language. There were some Unix > old-timers on a mailing list recently reminsicing about how way back > when, it was *assumed* that human-written assembly would always be > more better and more efficient than compiler-generated assembly --- > and these days it is pretty much self-evident that compilers do a > better job than what humans can do. Part of this is because how much > more complex modern CPU's have gotten compared to a PDP-11. But I > think it's more about people being less proficient at certain skills > that are no longer as important, and less about some more general > claim about "cognitive decline".
Compilers have moved the point at which most humans interface with computers, sure. But it's moved it around *within* the realm of well-specified, formal code. The important part is that a person is still writing a precise set of instructions when they write C or JavaScript, even when a compiler or interpreter stands between them and assembly. With LLM-based coding, the human stands with their feet planted in the domain of natural prose, and an incredibly poorly specified piece of software translates that into the machine domain. A long argument can be had about whether vague human language is appropriate as a source language to instruct a computer – but the point is that the human has moved from writing formally to writing informally. The same for calculators. Sure, a lot of the actual arithmetic has left a lot of people's heads. But the input and output are still a string of symbols with precise mathematical meaning that will be interpreted in a specific way, known to the operator. If people stopped using calculators and instead just asked an LLM "I wanna buy these things from that store, what would it cost?", I'd be similarly worried. I think there's at least a possibility that such a shift would be more detrimental to people's understanding of numbers and arithmetic than calculators ever were. Best, Gard
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