Re:Agents need control flow, not more prompts
by devin on Thursday May 07, 2026 @11:01PM
(#48057994)
And then you realize that what you’re using the smaller models for is ALSO decomposable and part of it is just a few if statements, and then you realize that for this feature you don’t actually need or want a model because the performance, reliability, reproducibility are cheaper and better for you and your users.
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Re:Agents need control flow, not more prompts
by jimbokun on Thursday May 07, 2026 @11:17PM
(#48058096)
So you have the model write the if statements and put itself out of a job.
Re:Agents need control flow, not more prompts
by gman2093 on Friday May 08, 2026 @10:10AM
(#48063459)
Alternatively, and sometimes more cost-efficient: you can find a developer who can write bespoke if statements. There are dozens of us!
Re:Agents need control flow, not more prompts
by saltcured on Friday May 08, 2026 @02:28PM
(#48066939)
So, are we going to end up with a mechanical Turk that pretends it is an LLM but just farms out tasks to gig workers?
Re:Agents need control flow, not more prompts
by DrewADesign on Friday May 08, 2026 @04:31PM
(#48068397)
Additionally, developers tend to become less expensive as venture capitalists turn off the spigot, while access to giant frontier models becomes way more expensive. Beyond that, a developer might go out and have a beer with you after work, which appeals to the sickos that have the gall to prioritize humanity over fanatical efficiency for corporate gains.