Image: wikipedia.org
(Translated from Turkish using https://www.deepl.com/en/translator)
ChatGPT already gives you useful, working code suggestions for things that you can express in simple words, or even just roughly describe. In a matter of seconds.
Of course, don’t expect all of this code to work immediately. Because Python libraries and web structures are changing very fast. However, ChatGPT’s information source is limited to 2021 (I’m talking about the free version Gpt-3).
For example, most of the “web scraping” codes that ChatGPT recommends do not work. Because the internal structure of the websites you want to process has generally changed after 2021. Another problem you will often encounter is that the parameters of some functions in Python libraries differ. Therefore, you get a lot of “deprecation” warnings (a warning that a function in a library will be disabled on a predetermined date due to name change, parameter change, etc.).
But ChatGPT doesn’t just provide you with a single piece of code that takes your description into account. If you ask it to modify or improve it, it will transform the same code to fix the error you encountered or to make it much more suitable for your purposes. In this way, you can ensure that the code you request is constantly improved/changed.
For a while, like many software developers, I thought that “the software business will now be monopolized by artificial intelligence”. I don’t think that anymore. I don’t see AI as a competitor, but as a resourceful helper. What we need to do is not to reject it completely or give up in the face of it, but to discover how to get along better with it. We have to change and evolve with it.
Another negative thesis is that the human brain will become lazy and clumsy as a result of AI. It is possible to say yes and no to this. It is true that if you have no intention of keeping up with change and development, your brain and its abilities will atrophy. But if you see it as a “resourceful helper”, you will see that you can sail to new horizons with it.
Another current shortcoming of ChatGPT is that there is no way to test the code it suggests before presenting it to you. I hope that this shortcoming will be eliminated in time.
In my next article, I will discuss how to start a dialog with ChatGPT.
See you again soon.
Let me know your thoughts, criticisms and suggestions in the comments below.
Ahmet Aksoy