Opus 2026-236: Don’t Help the Chick

I am watching a podcast from Reasons to Believe in which Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink are discussing AI coding.  I won’t try to summarize their discussion except to look at one observation they made.  Zweerink was reporting on some research and how it affected the work of different programmers.  It made people at all levels more productive but there was a more significant point.  The lower level programmers were more productive using AI helps but they were stagnant in developing new skill or new code.  The experienced programmers added new areas of progress to their productivity.  The point they drew was that the years of effort in learning to produce code had made it possible for the senior people to grow and advance with the AI.  Use of the shortcuts provided was keeping the low level people on a plateau.

That resonated with me.  There is a principle in life that says when you do things for people that they can do themselves you are not helping them but you are making them weaker.  I saw this in education with the introduction of computers and ready-made science kits.  The technology brought them to completion on a set project but did not develop the skills to move beyond the canned outcome.  Because they did not have to struggle they developed no intellectual muscle. 

Schools have begun allowing students to use calculators instead of learning their multiplication tables or the process of long division.  If all you want are bookkeepers then that may be enough. If you want rocket scientists or people to design bridges they need to develop a deeper understanding of how things work.

Let me repeat an observation I have made multiple times.  When chicken eggs are approaching the moment of hatching, people want to help the baby chicks to break out of the shell.  They are so helpless and we are so sensitive.  The sad truth is that if you do the work for them and they don’t need to struggle, they will not set loose the hormones that will allow them to get strong and thrive.  Your shortcut may shorten their lives.

I am only part way through the podcast but I think one of the conclusions will be that AI can be a useful tool but it can also be a shortcut that inhibits human progress both collectively and individually. 

Be leery of shortcuts.

homo unius libri