Fragments Nov 3
I’m very concerned about the security dangers of LLM-enabled browsers, as it’s just too easy for them to contain the Lethal Trifecta. For up-to-date eyes on these issues, I follow the writings of coiner of that phrase: Simon Willison. Here he examines a post on how OpenAI is thinking about these issues.
My takeaways from all of this? It’s not done much to influence my overall skepticism of the entire category of browser agents, but it does at least demonstrate that OpenAI are keenly aware of the problems and are investing serious effort in finding the right mix of protections.
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Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of strong opinions on AI assisted coding. Some engineers swear by it. Others say it’s dangerous. And of course, as is the way with the internet, nuanced positions get flattened into simplistic camps where everyone’s either on one side or the other.
A lot of the problem is that people aren’t arguing about the same thing. They’re reporting different experiences from different vantage points.
His view is that beginners are very keen on AI-coding but they don’t see the problems they are creating. Experienced folks do see this, but it takes a further level of experience to realize that when used well these tools are still valuable.
Interestingly, I’ve regularly seen sceptical experienced engineers change their view once they’ve been shown how you can blend modern/XP practices with AI assisted coding.
The upshot is this, is that you have be aware of the experience level of whoever is writing about this stuff - and that experience is not just in software development generally, but also in how to make use of LLMs. One thing that rings clearly from reading Simon Willison and Birgitta Böckeler is that effective use of LLMs is a skill that takes a while to develop.
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Charlie Brown and Garfield, like most comic strip characters, never changed over the decades. But Doonesbury’s cast aged, had children, and some have died (I miss Lacey). Gary Trudeau retired from writing daily strips a few years ago, but his reruns of older strips is one of the best things in the shabby remains of Twitter.
A couple of weeks ago, he reran one of the most memorable strips in its whole run. The very first frame of Doonesbury introduced the character “B.D.”, a football jock never seen without his football helmet, or when on duty, his military helmet. This panel was the first time in over thirty years that B.D. was shown without a helmet, readers were so startled that they didn’t immediately notice that the earlier explosion had removed his leg. This set off a remarkable story arc about the travails of a wounded veteran. It’s my view that future generations will find Doonesbury to be a first-class work of literature, and a thoughtful perspective on contemporary America.