My experience with using AI for coding is that if you are not asking it questions from an algorithms class or similar, you get a lot of hallucinations that do not work, e.g. R packages that don't exist. You can ask it follow up questions and it will eventually fix the issues, but that requires having a firm mental model and the ability to read code and know how it would work in practice.
I can see the utility of a Prompt Engineering Carpentries lesson, but I have no idea how to properly teach prompt engineering. -- Reed A. Cartwright, PhD Associate Professor of Genomics, Evolution, and Bioinformatics School of Life Sciences and The Biodesign Institute Arizona State University Address: The Biodesign Institute, PO Box 876401, Tempe, AZ 85287-6401 USA Packages: The Biodesign Institute, 1001 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287-6401 USA Office: Biodesign B-220C, 1-480-965-9949 Website: http://cartwrig.ht/ On Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 5:04 PM Paul Harrison via discuss < [email protected]> wrote: > > I wonder if more could be said about *how* to demonstrate the use of > LLMs. All the bad things people do with LLMs (and Stack Overflow) are > opportunities to demonstrate a better way. > > So we could show getting some code from an LLM, and then the steps of > examining variables and understanding their types, inserting debugging > "print" statements, looking up documentation, considering alternative > solutions, and explaining our thought process. > > It's not so different from the skills needed to read other people's code. > > Since LLM output is random it's hard to script this fully, but that also > seems in keeping with the Carpentries workshop format. > > This list is for the purpose of general discussion about The Carpentries > including community activities, upcoming events, and announcements. Some > other lists you may also be interested in include discuss-hpc, discuss-r, > and our local groups. Visit https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/ > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGfj4-wdM$> > to learn more. All activity on this and other Carpentries spaces should > abide by The Carpentries Code of Conduct found here: > https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/code-of-conduct.html > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/code-of-conduct.html__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGZdNqvnp$> > *The Carpentries > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/latest__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGVPbz88y$>* > / discuss / see discussions > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGQNF2XoG$> > + participants > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/members__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGZmCY5_5$> > + delivery options > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGa_LGvo8$> > Permalink > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/T032962510fa76492-M6317a0ed8937d3433ed0e6d8__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!duiVfl09Ky7DoG5aNeOz7HXdPTPuieF9AaqNPUKdz4DJBA1tPKthu4fQxyOplJq5EnVxcbmL7xge5tu0R6SvGTGEqAvu$> > ------------------------------------------ This list is for the purpose of general discussion about The Carpentries including community activities, upcoming events, and announcements. Some other lists you may also be interested in include discuss-hpc, discuss-r, and our local groups. Visit https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/ to learn more. All activity on this and other Carpentries spaces should abide by The Carpentries Code of Conduct found here: https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/code-of-conduct.html The Carpentries: discuss Permalink: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/T032962510fa76492-M952258e6572a44531646fd1d Delivery options: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription
