Simon Peyton Jones

Everyone, we like using compilers, right?

We don't like machine code anymore.

Compilers make us more productive.

Maybe LLMs can make us more productive.

That's what I hope.

I sort of believe modulo dislocation effects.

should we teach children or even undergraduates how to program?

So I think still yes.

The reason is because one way to say it is co-pilots need pilots.

I think co-pilot was quite a good title that Microsoft gave their tools because it encourages you to believe it's your partner, not your boss.

if LLM spit out a pile of goop and we literally do not understand what it does, we just try it and it kind of works.

That might be OK if we're just throwing up a quick visualization.

It might be less OK if the quick visualization is going to drive our policy choices about as a nation, whether to go into lockdown because of COVID or if this program is going to run my airplane or train signaling system.

So now those are, you know, extreme ends of the spectrum.

You know, from quick and dirty things, it really doesn't matter if it doesn't work.

But it kind of does a lot of the time.

Absolutely fine.

Two.

This is a 30-year code base.

It's going to last a long time.