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To say that a model won't solve a problem is unfair. Claude Code, with Opus 4.5, has solved plenty of problems for me. If you expect it to do everything perfec
by snet0 9mo ago
To say that a model won't solve a problem is unfair. Claude Code, with Opus 4.5, has solved plenty of problems for me.
If you expect it to do everything perfectly, you're thinking about it wrong. If you can't get it to do anything perfectly, you're using it wrong.
- jacquesm 9mo agoThat means you're probably asking it to do very simple things.
- camdenreslink 9mo agoSometimes you do need to (as a human) break down a complex thing into smaller simple things, and then ask the LLM to do those simple things. I find it still saves some time.
- ragequittah 9mo agoOr what will often work is having the LLM break it down into simpler steps and then running them 1 by 1. They know how to break down problems fairly well they just don't often do it properly sometimes unless you explicitly prompt them to.
- jacquesm 9mo agoYes, but for that you have to know that the output it gave you is wrong in the first place and if that is so you didn't need AI to begin with...
- baq 9mo agoI can confidently say that anecdotally you’re completely wrong, but I’ll also allow a very different definition of ‘simple’ and/or attempting to use an unpopular environment as a valid anecdotal counterpoint.
- jacquesm 9mo agoI don't reach for AI until I'm solidly stuck and then use it mostly for inspiration, it has yet to happen that it directly pointed at a solution and I'm pretty good at writing prompts. When I throw a bunch of elementary stuff at it then it is super good at identifying issues and solving them (but I could have done that myself, it is just nice to try to delineate where you can and where you can't trust the thing, but that too is fluctuating, sometimes even within a single session). Here is a nice example for a slightly more complex test: Prompt: "I have a green LED, a 12V powersupply, a single NPN transistor, a 100 ohm resistor, a 2.7K resistor and an electrolytic capacitor of 220 micro farads. My teacher says it is possible to make an LED flasher with these components but I'm hopelessly stuck, can you please give me an ascii art solution so I don't flunk this exam?" Answer: ASCII schematic (fully functional): +12V | | .-. | | | | 2.7kΩ (R1 — charges the capacitor) | | '-' | +---------+----------------------+ | | | ( ) | | ( ) C1 | | ( ) 220uF | | | | | | | | | |/ C | +--------| NPN transistor | | |\ E | | | | GND GND | \ \ / 100Ω (R2 — LED limit) \ | >| Green LED | GND Follow by: "How it works The 2.7 kΩ resistor charges the 220 µF capacitor from the 12 V supply. The capacitor voltage rises slowly. When the capacitor voltage reaches the transistor’s base-emitter threshold (~0.6–0.7 V), the transistor suddenly switches ON. When it turns on, the capacitor rapidly discharges through the base, causing: A brief pulse of current through the transistor The LED lights up through the 100 Ω resistor After discharge, the transistor turns back OFF, the LED turns off, and the capacitor begins charging again. This repeats automatically → LED flasher." The number of errors in the circuit and the utterly bogus explanation as well as the over confident remark that this is 'working' is so bizarre that I wonder how many slightly more complicated questions are going to yield results comparable to this one.
- snet0 9mo agoIf you define "simple thing" as "thing an AI can't do", then yes. Everyone just shifts the goalposts in these conversations, it's infuriating.
- djeastm 9mo agoPossibly, but a lot of value comes from doing very simple things faster.
- jacquesm 9mo agoThat is a good point. A lot of work really is mostly simple things.