Re: Discussion: Using LLMs the Right Way: 10/1/2025 7pm Eastern Daylight time

Thanks Ivan!

Could you please give us one or more URLs as examples of Cory
Doctorow's writing on AI? Thanks!

Steve

Ivan Sergio Borgonovo said on Wed, 1 Oct 2025 11:18:15 +0200

>Cory Doctorow is writing a lot of good stuff on AI I mostly agree with.
>He has a more "artistic" POV, despite him being a nerd too, while I
>have a more tech POV so sometimes he despise the use of generative AI
>where I would just say "why not?".
>
>I think he is making a great point that has actual technical 
>implications when he talk about centaurs and reverse-centaurs.
>
>That should be the starting point to any successful use of AI.
>
>On 10/1/25 3:15 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Where: GoLUG Online: https://meet.jit.si/golug
>> When: Wednesday, 10/1/2025 7pm sharp Eastern Daylight time
>>        Arrive 15 minutes early for Microphone check & discussion
>> Who: Steve Litt, Troubleshooter, Developer, Tech Writer
>> What: Discussion: Using LLMs the Right Way
>> 
>> As a regular inhabitant of LinkedIn, I see an ever increasing bunch
>> of BS concerning topics AI and Vibe Coding (the ultimate undefined
>> phrase).
>> 
>> There are those people scared to death that their developer jobs will
>> be completely taken over by Large Language Models (LLMs), and out of
>> panic and fear they trot out the old tropes about "vibe coders"
>> having ChatGPT or Claude spit out a 5K line application and deploy
>> it live, so that an army of $200/hr consultants can come in and fix
>> the mess.
>> 
>> Then there are the self-proclaimed "realists" proclaiming that human
>> developers are obsolete, you'd better accept it, software writes
>> software that writes software that writes software, and it's better
>> code than anything written by a human, So become a business
>> executive. Perhaps this will be true someday, but it's nowhere near
>> true today.
>> 
>> Just today I saw a LinkedIn post blaming "AI" for permanent brainwave
>> alterations and inattentiveness. Well yeah, if you do any activity
>> wrong: Listening to music, watching TV, programming, writing books,
>> weightlifting, taking vitamins or making money, it can change your
>> brain, and often not for the better.
>> 
>> You just gotta love these guys who spend valuable brainpower worrying
>> themselves to death that job applicants are using AI to answer the
>> interview questions. If the applicant comes up with the right answer
>> in such a time and emotional crunch, why do they care if the
>> applicant used a tool to do it? Unless it's a matter of the
>> interviewer not knowing whether the answer is correct, in which case
>> maybe it's the interviewer who shouldn't have a job. Anyway, if the
>> applicant can quickly come up with correct answers using his AI
>> tools, imagine how productive he'll be on the job. Work isn't a
>> closed-book activity :-)
>> 
>> Here's the truth: LLMs are a tool. A very powerful tool, but just a
>> tool. They do a big portion of the job very fast, but they don't do
>> the whole job. As of 2025 you still need human troubleshooters, you
>> need people who understand how to write readable and modular code so
>> it's maintainable even when the LLM can't do the job, you need
>> somebody to interview and specify. Imagine the ruckus laborers must
>> have made when backhoes were invented. A backhoe and its operator
>> could out produce ten strong and skilled ditch diggers. But if you
>> look around, at every jobsite using a backhoe you'll see one or two
>> guys with shovels to get the last few inches dug around pipes, etc.
>> The project still had an architect and an engineer. A backhoe can't
>> do the whole job, and neither can an LLM. Very few people on
>> LinkedIn stop to think about this. LLMs lead neither to heaven nor
>> hell. They're a tool. A very powerful tool, but just a tool.
>> 
>> And by the way, LLMs are hugely helpful in learning new things, and
>> I've found that interacting with them also helps me discuss things
>> with humans.
>> 
>> At the discussion I'll briefly reveal how I use LLMs to help me
>> develop software, learn new things, and turn them into a high
>> quality, lightning fast lookup software or service manual. Then
>> others will reveal their tricks, tips, and policies of using LLMs.
>> We should all come away with a better understanding of how to use
>> LLMs as a tool.
>> 
>> Hope to see you there.
>> 
>> SteveT
>> 
>> Steve Litt
>> GoLUG Publicity Coordinator