> can write the code you mention above much faster than the English to describe it in half a dozen languages
Especially if you’re fluent in an editor like Vim, Emacs, Sublime, have setup intellisense and snippets, know the language really well and are very familiar with the codebase.
Which were all tools I had to learn and slowed me down while I was learning them. So I’m extremely sympathetic to the idea that ai can be a productivity enhancer.
But those had obvious benefits that made the learning cost sensible. “I can describe in precise English, a for loop and have the computer write it” flat sounds backwards.
Especially if you’re fluent in an editor like Vim, Emacs, Sublime, have setup intellisense and snippets, know the language really well and are very familiar with the codebase.