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

[Steve Litt]

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