AI Thinks the Back of My Head Is the Most Interesting Part

In this picture, you can see how AI tried to tell me that the back of my head is the most interesting thing about me. 🤣

Now that I'm making videos, it helped me choose a camera, set up the scene, and sort out plenty of other things. Great. Then I spent quite a while discussing how to film across a meeting table. And this is the drawing it produced. It captures the ESSENCE. It's actually pretty good. A lot of the picture is excellent. But...

When you use AI to generate software, it makes similar mistakes. They just aren't as easy to see. For the result to be usable, you have to inspect it from every angle: specify the task carefully, test the outcome, check the internal contracts, review security, and avoid letting AI write huge blocks of code on its own.

Believing that AI can write a nontrivial app entirely on its own and get it right the first time is naive.

But ignoring AI is just as naive.

Those of us who work in software have been handed an electric drill instead of an old hand tool. We can work faster and for less, and focus on the more creative parts of the job. But we still need to know which drill bit to choose and where to drill so we don't hit a water pipe.

Or do you already have something bigger in operation that AI built on its own?