AI-generated code could be a disaster for the software supply chain. Here’s why.

LLM-produced code could make us much more vulnerable to supply-chain attacks.

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[Hylaea]

LLMs make great helpers for searching obtuse documentation but they're all too happy to regurgitate someone else's Stack Overflow solution which won't be designed for your specific circumstances unless your cases are super generic.

Don't let them write your code, but don't be afraid to use them to find stuff for you.

I usually say that Copilot gets me 90% of the way there, but that 90% of the way was absolutely the grunt work that took me most of the time in the past. That last 10% was the part that was novel to the project anyway, so it basically let me concentrate on the actual problem instead of wasting time on that preparatory nonsense.

If you're not debugging before you ship, it doesn't matter if it's human or AI generated.

 

[Hylaea]

To your point about solving problems, they actually do. Just not to the extent they're being hyped to.

They're a very useful tool for information discovery, because old-style search engines have be on their deathbed for years. SEO is making search engines useless, so it's good at LLMs came along when they did.

When it comes to the Copilots and GPTs of the world, the old "trust but verify" saying is very applicable.

 

[Hylaea]

As an aside though, I get a kick out of people who like to very loudly let the world know that they consider LLMs and similar systems to "not be thinking". As if that makes them any less useful.

Though, from my POV, we're quickly entering the P-Zombie realm of AI. At which point, at least from my viewpoint, it's neither here not there.

 

[Hylaea]

Haven't reached the uncanny valley stage yet.

Uncanny valley as I understand it is more a visual thing.