Coding with AI as a Probabilistic Process: Navigating Trees of Possible Outcomes
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Summary
The article explores coding with AI as a probabilistic process, framing it as navigating a tree of possible outcomes rather than deterministic programming. The author discusses how thinking in terms of probabilities between input and output helps understand how AI fits into daily coding work, examining what percentage of probable outcomes will produce the desired result.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledRecently I've been thinking about coding with AI in terms of it being a process of navigating a tree of probabilistic outcomes.
Most people using LLMs, especially with code, have a basic understanding of what they do ('bro, it just predicts the next token') but in practice, thinking in terms of the relationship between input and output I've found more useful.
Given what I provide, what is the probability of getting the output I need? Or what percentage of the probable outcomes will work?
This framing of coding with AI as a process of navigating a tree of probabilistic outcomes.
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