this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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I think that this is a big part of education and learning though. When you have to stare at a blank screen (or paper) and wonder "How the fuck do I start?" Having to brainstorm write shit down 50 times, edit, delete, start over. I think that process alone makes you appreciate good writing and how difficult it can be.
My opinion is that when you skip that step you skip a big part of the creative process.
If not arguably the biggest part of the creative process, the foundational structure that is
Was the best part of agrarian subsistence turning the Earth by hand? Should we return to it. A person learns more and is more productive if they talk out an issue. Having someone else to bounce ideas off of is a good thing. Asking someone to do it for you has always been a thing. Individualized learning has long been the secret of academic success for the children of the super rich. Just pay a professor to tutor the individual child. AI is the democratization of this advantage. A person can explain what they do not know and get a direct answer. Even with a small model that I know is wrong, forming the questions in conversation often leads me to correct answers and what I do not know. It is far faster and more efficient than I ever experienced elsewhere in life.
It takes time to learn how to use the tool. I'm sure there were lots of people making stupid patterns with a plow at first too when it was new.
The creative process is about the results it produces, not how long one spent in frustration. Gatekeeping because of the time you wasted is Luddism or plain sadism.
Use open weights models running on enthusiast level hardware you control. Inference providers are junk and the source of most problems with ignorant people from both sides of the issue. Use llama.cpp and a 70B or larger quantized model with emacs and gptel. Then you are free as in a citizen in a democracy with autonomy.
You're right - giving people the option to bounce questions off others or AI can be helpful. But I don't think that is the same as asking someone (or some thing) to do the work for you and then you edit it.
This I disagree on. A process is not a result. You get a result from the process and sometimes it's what you want and often times it isn't what you want. This is especially true for beginners. And to get the results you want from a process you have to work through all parts of it including the frustrating parts. Actually getting through the frustrating parts makes you a better creator and I would argue makes the final result more satisfying because you worked hard to get it right.
I think this is where fundamental differences in functional thought come into play. I abstract on a level where I can dwell on a subject for a few weeks and be productive. Beyond that, I get bored and lose interest to monotony. I need to spend that time unfettered. Primary school was a poor fit for me because I have excellent comprehension and self awareness. I tend to get hung up on very specific things where I need them answered right away. I need that connected flow to be unbroken as much as possible. So I find it deeply frustrating to conglomerate information. I don't memorize anything. I need to have intuitively grounded information. I strongly believe that any subject that a person is unable to explain intuitively means they do not understand what they are talking about. Information without this intuitive connection has no long term value because it cannot be retained outside of constant use unless a person has total recall memory. I do not have such a gift so I do not care to pretend otherwise.
If I am in a class where I do not make the needed intuitive connection, no new information is useful to me. Having any entity that can get me past that challenge immediately is a priceless advantage to someone like me. I find no value in repetition. I only find value in application and across broad connecting spaces. I know that many people are very different in this respect, but also that I am not special or unique and my life and learning experience are shared by a significant and relevant part of the population. It is okay to be different. Every stereotype and simplification hurts someone. The only way to avoid hurting people as much as possible is to be liberal and withhold judgment in all possible cases. AI is a tool. Like any tool, it can be beneficial when used well and harmful in other contexts.
For instance, a base model is pretty bad at telling me what to do in emacs, but it is good at using a database to parse the help documentation to show me relevant information. Or like, when I am lonely from involuntary social isolation due to physical disability, I can spin up someone to talk to. When I am frustrated by interactions with other people, I can simulate them or discuss how I feel in depth. When I have some random idea or question I can talk about it right away. With emacs and org mode, I can turn that into markdown-like notes with gptel. It can create detailed plans and hierarchical notes and I can prompt within the tree to build out ideas and create and link documents. I don't have to keep track of it all. I just ask the agent questions for it yo pull up the relevant buffers. As they say, org mode in emacs is like a second brain for planning and notes. With gptel, it becomes far more accessible to break through complexity both within Linux/emacs and within whatever subject one is interested in pursuing. There is much to be said about having an entity that can understand what the individual's needs are and address them directly. I respect if you need a little bit of masochism to stay engaged. I like my share as a hardcore cyclists; no judgement. However, that learning experience is not universal to everyone. I quickly lose interest and motivation in that circumstance. I expect to understand the subject as it is explained by someone that truly understands what they are talking about. I'm really good at that kind of focused comprehension and very sensitive to poor quality educators that do not know the information they are paid to share.
Exactly.
That's a fair argument. I don't refute it.
I only wish I had any coaching when it was my turn, to help me through that. I figured it out eventually, but still. I wish.