Statement on AI Usage
This is a time of great upheaval in the software industry, and we felt the need to make a statement to our customers about AI usage at OneHat.
On Software Development
- AI is good for some tasks, not yet for others.
- It excels at processing vast amounts of data, finding patterns, and automating repetitive tasks.
- It struggles with common-sense reasoning, genuine creativity, emotional intelligence, and absolute factual accuracy.
- AI is not a replacement for a senior programmer.
- AI's programming ability is, in our evaluation and at time of writing, about as good as a junior developer.*
- It can be helpful, but is not to be trusted.
- AI can make mistakes, so at OneHat, any AI-generated code must be reviewed by a senior developer. We value maintainability in our code, so don't ship any AI code unless we first check it, understand it, and agree with it.
- All that to say, OneHat uses AI as a tool for the master craftsman, not as a replacement programmer. It's a force-multiplier.
- AI can introduce subtle problems into codebases that may not be caught for months.
- More code or faster code does not mean better code.
- Code that works may not be designed well, and may not be easy to maintain.
- These kinds of problems accumulate and eventually become serious technical debt.
- Good software developers must always remain vigilant about this, and verify all the code it outputs (see #2)
- AI is probablistic, not deterministic.
- When 100% certainty is needed, AI is not the answer.
- When 90% correct is good enough, AI shines.
The point of all this is that you can trust OneHat to produce reliable code that will last!
On Larger Issues
- AI may change the way we solve problems, but it won't remove the need to solve problems.
- There will always be work to do. Work is a part of the Cultural Mandate given by God in the garden (Gen 1:28).
- Technology will always improve and attempt to provide better ways to make that work easier, quicker, more efficient.
- At the same time, work will always remain cursed (difficult, tiresome, burdensome) until the world is remade by Christ.
- People will therefore always be needed to build, maintain, and use that technology.
- AI is not going to destroy humanity.
- We don't need to be afraid.
- God—not technology—is sovereign over history.
- As a loving father, God has a purpose for his children (Rom 8:28), and he is working all things to a specific "telos"—the redemption of mankind. He is not going to let humanity destroy itself!
- AI should not replace thinking, or analysis.
- Because AI is highly accessible, and deliberately crafted to sound confident and authoritative, it's easy for a person to defer his thinking to it. This is a grave mistake.
- No one should rely on AI so much that they let their mind atrophy.
- We are to love God with our minds! (Mk 12:30)
- AI's output represents the worldview of its trainers.
- This means that by default, it's secular, naturalistic, and materialistic.
- Its responses are humanistic, utilitarian, egalitarian, relativistic, and individualistic.
- Its politics favor progressive liberalism.
- It does not see the world in terms of its Creator, it assumes the Bible is not the highest source of truth, and that God (if he exists at all) has no relevance to human life.
- For this reason, it incorrectly interprets the world God made, and is not to be trusted.
* Note: I'm not referring to frontier models or unreleased models; which may be much better. I'm referring to the models that are in everyday use, which don't cost an arm and a leg to access regularly!