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bambaxtoday at 2:09 AM3 repliesview on HN

One problem is that when people delegate tasks to AI, they don't themselves learn anything from doing the task -- not just in the general sense of personal improvement, but in the very concrete sense of "what is it that was produced".

Before AI, when someone showed you a presentation or an Excel sheet, even if it was complete horseshit that they had made up, they knew what was in it: they knew more about it than you, by definition.

Now, not so much; people output things they know nothing about, and when they show it to you they are discovering it just as you are.

This is novel, and discomforting.


Replies

fchickentoday at 2:23 AM

I have a tech support buddy who, while good, allows himself more arrogance than his skills deserve. I asked him what CRC errors, and he said to ask AI, kindly providing me its output:

> CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) errors on Wi-Fi indicate that data frames were corrupted during transmission, often caused by high electromagnetic interference (EMI), physical layer issues, or faulty hardware. They cause packet loss, slow speeds, and intermittent connectivity. Common solutions include replacing cables, reducing interference, updating drivers, and adjusting radio power

This is all well and good except: read the prompt carefully. It never actually says what CRC errors are. This is the average AI user: literally work on, build, and fix things without the slightest clue about what it is you're actually working on.

He makes >6 figures lol

4b11b4today at 3:45 AM

Yes, the "desirable difficulties" are gone in many areas

Honestly, quite a tragedy for many. Myself, I have to be constantly fighting against this to slow myself down

epguitoday at 2:23 AM

This drives me absolutely nuts.