Hey! I'm Tony Braggadocio. ChatGeppetto does all my programming for this course.
It's easy!
Smart, too. More time to spend doing my real job, not studying. I handle customer complaints for Very Important, Inc. Hey, in ten years at that job, I could make $22 an hour!
I'm getting a degree to check a box. I already know how the world works. I got the socials.
You don't need to know programming. AI is taking it over, anyway.
Only a chump wouldn't cheat.
Right?
Adela
Ummm...
What?
Adela
Is programming really going away?
Check the socials! That's what people are saying.
My buddy Chuck, he and a buncha guys are making a fantasy football app. They're gonna be freakin' rich!
Chuck doesn't program, but his buddy Choung does. Uses AI to make chunks of code.
Ethan
Is the code always right?
No, but it's good, Chuck says Choung says. Most of the time.
Ethan
Most of the time?
Sure. AIs aren't perfect.
Georgina
How does he know when there are errors?
Huh? Sees them in the code, I guess. Choung knows what he's doing.
Ray
But if Choung hadn't learned to program, he wouldn't have seen the errors. Not until the app crashed, or something.
Oh..., er, I see what you mean. But...
I know! When I'm making the big bucks, when I code, I can get another AI to check the first AI's work!
Smart, huh?
Adela
Yeah, I'm sure no one else thought of that.
How would you know the second AI found all the bugs? Use another AI? Might the last one you try add different bugs?
Yeah, but, it's not as if another person would know I used AI. I'm in my cubicle, typing away. No one will find out.
Ray
Then you're set! The AI will do exactly what's needed, and there's no such thing as a code review. Right?
Um, what's a code review?
Ray
Google it.
I can handle it. I know how to make people feel good in meetings.
Adela
Hmm. OK, let's say you're in a meeting about a new project. Someone asks you a basic Python question. What do you do?
Uhhh... Google it?
Ethan
In front of everyone? Great! No red flags there!
Everyone Googles everything!
Ethan
Yes, that must be true. Choung told Chuck told you, right?
I'm not going to ask people how much they know and how much they Google. I'm not that stupid.
Adela
Let me know how stupid you are, so I know whether to work with you.
Still, programming is going away! It's obvious.
Georgina
Wow! Experts in the field don't know what's going to happen. You do. I'm impressed!
So what? I don't want to be a programmer.
Adela
You think the only people who write code are full-time programmers?
Yes... no... I don't know!
Georgina
Dude, people in marketing write code to analyze sales. Accountants to understand past dues. Manufacturing people to figure out quality issues.
How can you not know that?
I don't want to do that! It's geek stuff!
Adela
Seriously?! Are you still in junior high? You're going to cut off entire careers for yourself?
It's not that... I'm afraid, alright?
Look, I'm not good at math. I get confused, I panic, so I play a game or shoot some hoops.
I can have AI write code, and no one will know I can't do it.
Adela
That's the first smart thing you're said.
It is?
Adela
Yep. I'm sacred, too.
The economy, global warming, AI. More stuff to know than I can know. Jobs I'm training for that might not exist in a few years. Will I even have health care?
That's what scares me.
Ethan
Same here.
Georgina
Of course I'm scared!
Ray
Poopy scaredy pants here.
I dunno what's going to happen. Nobody does, not even Choung.
Adela
There's one thing I do know. I'm sure of it.
What's that?
Adela
I'm gonna need skills. If I know how to do stuff, I've gotta chance.
Georgina
I talked to people who did this course least year. My friend Alanah, she talks geek now. Like, if you told me Alanah could code? I love her, but in high school she was voted most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse. Nothing zombies would want to eat.
It's kinda impressive.
Anyway, dude, you gotta chance to learn a skill. Laying in front of you, right now.
But I'll get confused!
Ethan
Dude, of course you will. It's like when you work out. If lifting isn't hard, you're not building muscle.
Here's what's really important: what do you do when you're confused?
But I might fail!
Adela
True dat. You probably won't, but you might.
Here's the thing. If you use ChatGeppetto to get a good grade, you'll definitely fail your future self.
I dunno what'll happen, but I feel better that I'm doing something, learning a skill.