bengold14

Thanks my friend - I'm not an AI evangelist but I think it's pretty clear that AI codes very well at this point. So well that I'd hazard a guess that most software engineers don't write code anymore. Sure, maybe a professional could do better if they spent way more time on it, but it has always been a tradeoff we programmers have had to make. Getting things done + technical debt or writing the perfect code and over optimizing. And LLMs write working code, so the rest is just semantics on that scale.

Code being the wrong abstraction is similar to assembly being the wrong abstraction if you're trying to write a web browser game. Sure it's possible to do it and yes, you may end up with more optimized code, but it's not necessary and much slower to do that. Just use Javascript.

And now, people are building larger applications & functions quicker, and it no longer makes sense time-wise to look at Javascript for-loops when understanding the work. And that's because those for-loops are generally correct, if maybe a bit under optimized. Instead, engineers need a new layer of abstraction, to understand what the code is doing without having to read each line.

I'm not trying to sound smart, I just think it encompasses what most people now acknowledge. LLMs write code faster and generally better than needed for most cases, and that seems to be becoming the prevalent opinion seeing as most folks have stopped doing PR reviews.

The problem is, without PR reviews & strict oversight, we're losing knowledge, system design & control of our codebases & products. Which is why, IMO, the coding is solved but the other parts which used to be so tightly coupled to programming are cropping up as their own issues.

Same problem though :). If an overseas employee knows the code and you don't, you have ceded ownership, problem solving ability & future direction of the project.

tbh, I don't think of LLMs as junior-devs. Maybe 6 months ago, but now they are v. senior code-monkeys. They are masters of their craft, but their craft is narrow and lacks big picture, collaboration, org goals, etc.

When you can own it - I like that. Humans are still needed to own systems and drive/direct changes. The question is how can we collaborate as organizations and teams to still own it when we don't write the code and can't keep up with the output

See my edit on the right abstraction - how do we get humans able to collaborate with agents effectively, where knowledge flows both ways, without needing a human to read 10k LOC, or even just lots of long LLM responses, to follow along

Fair question - IMO it's the wrong abstraction for building and collaborating on a new product with a team.

To your point, it's not the wrong abstraction for solving code level bugs. Just like python is not the right abstraction for solving memory corruption or pointer mis-alignments.

I see this everyday. The problem is code is the wrong abstraction for the work we do. LLMs have solved coding, but they haven't solved systems, collaboration or system maintenance.

Edit: Since I seem to have touched a nerve - I've been working on a project to solve this: https://www.archme.io if you want to know my thoughts on the right abstraction

I couldn’t agree more. Code review is integral to engineering, to sharing system understanding, to building sustainable systems.

Something is missing in the new ai bot review paradigm we’ve all sleepwalked into.

I’ve been building Archme.io for this reason. PR reviews for the age of AI

I couldn't agree more. I've been building something that is trying to solve this problem, an abstraction layer for code that you, your agents and co-workers can all use together. I would love the chance to talk to you and get feedback if you're willing.

My email is in my bio

Hi, thanks!

That's a great question. It is not making anybody rich, but I cover my costs and make a few hundred extra a month. I think on the order of $500+ MRR.

Besides buying credits there is also a pro membership where people choose which demographics rank them (age, location, gender), can have more tests, larger test sizes and always be at the front of the queue for ranking.

Hi! Sorry for the late response, went to bed and forgot about this post. Thanks :)

We check to make certain people aren't ranking formulaically, and if they are we invalidate their votes and ban them automatically. We also check how close people's rankings are to the consensus retroactively and do some fancy anti cheating patterns there as well.

RankPic (https://www.rankpic.info) is an app to help users crowdsource their best photo. I've been building over the past 3 years & it's grown into a lovely community of people who help each other pick their best pictures for dating apps, professional photos etc.

I've seen some pretty fun novel use cases, such as (multiple!) people using it to pick out glasses, wedding invites & so on.

I recently completed a leaderboard function that cross compares photos from different tests using Claude, which was really impressive and scared me for my day job..

Thank you!

RankPic (https://www.rankpic.info) is an app to help users crowdsource their best photo. I've been building over the past 3 years. It's grown into a lovely community of people who help each other pick their best pictures for dating apps, professional photos etc.

I've seen some pretty fun novel use cases, such as (multiple!) people using it to pick out glasses, wedding invites & so on -- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rankpic-photo-ranking/id160299... (ios) -- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.rankpic.ra... (android)

I founded a startup based on this idea. Track purchases with credit cards and sum things up on a monthly basis. Unfortunately couldn't find a grocer to take me up on it mid pandemic, but I want to try it again in a few years if no one has made it work yet.

Thanks for asking! The community is about 15,000 users, maybe 100-300 DAU, tests complete in as little as 10 hours for 20 ranks or up to a couple days if you have a lot of niche filters set for your rankers (age, sex, location).

The best ROI I have found is on Apple and Android app stores. I tried Facebook, Tiktok & others and have found them very expensive with little return (though I admit I'm not marketing expert).

As for Photofeeler.. I actually created this app because I found the way it rated me 1-10 fairly harmful to my mental health. RankPic has users rank your photos best to worst, so it's just against yourself. Additionally you can get more mileage out of each test as you can upload up to 6 photos at a time.

I got all my friends to go on it and spent lots of time ranking people myself.

I also started things off with "fake" tests so that people had other people to rank at the beginning, otherwise folks would just see a dead app and drop off.

It was a really big moment 9 months in when someone's test completed entirely without me ranking. It was a lot of work & I'm really glad to be at a point now where I get to watch people rank each other without me.

I used fiverr to make assets, and then either use fiverr to make a design that I can easily build with one of the website building tools (wix, etc.) or I try to build it myself.

The easiest way is to find a landing page you think looks good and use it as inspiration with your own colors, assets, etc.

Thanks! Emailed :)

Thank you! The ranking queue was a fun thing to implement.

No offense taken, I also have many qualms about the role looks and photos play in our society. The destruction & gamification of social interaction by tech is a genuine harm.

Unfortunately it's what we're dealing with right now, and people need feedback to be able to play the game.

Thanks for asking! I also used photofeeler and found the way it rated me 1-10 fairly harmful to my mental health. RankPic has users rank your photos best to worst, so it's just against yourself.

It also allows users to get more milage out of each test, when you can do 2-6 photos instead of just one at a time.

Anecdotally I've also heard it is a more fun experience for the rankers.

RankPic (https://www.rankpic.info) is an app to help users crowdsource their best photo.

I've been building over the past 3 years & just recently monetized and crossed the $500/m mark through a Pro subscription. It's grown into a lovely community of people who help each other pick their best pictures for dating apps, professional photos etc.

I've seen some pretty fun novel use cases, such as (multiple!) people using it to pick out glasses, wedding invites & so on

-- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rankpic-photo-ranking/id160299... (ios)

-- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.rankpic.ra... (android)

RankPic - www.rankpic.info (available on Android and iOS, website is.. meh)

App that lets you crowdsource people's opinions on your photos. Unlike other websites out there, it doesn't rate you 1-10 but instead ranks your photos against each other so you don't have to feel bad about yourself :). Very useful for dating apps and other social media, esp. if you don't have easy access to friends' opinions.

I've had lots of friends and users tell me it's super useful, but I'm in a slump on building it right now.

worthy cultural events.. what? You are missing out on like all of NYC

My email account that is associated with it doesn't work as they shutdown my domain, so I can't have missed any feedback, and there isn't anyway I can see to switch it without access to the email.

I don't know what to do, I wish they had someone to talk to. I pay them and can't even reach someone it's crazy, they're losing thousands of dollars a month from me and they can't even give me someone to talk to for 15 minutes and sort this out.