[277389] in TECHWR-L
[TECHWR-L] - Differences in perception of the consequences large
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Doug Cuff)
Wed Oct 29 10:27:34 2025
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:23:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Cuff <dgcuff@gmail.com>
To: TECHWR-L Email Discussion group <techwr-l@techwr-l.com>
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Long before ChatGPT was a gleam in Sam Altman's eye, the stance of most=20
people including managers was "Anyone can write!" Now that AI is at our=20
throats, the rats are deserting a ship that they perceive to be sinking.=20
Who needs technical writers?
I'm going to try to remain amused as long as I can, especially after a week=
=20
in which I learned that software developers are more easily replaced by AI=
=20
than tech writers are.
One big idea behind BASIC was "Anyone can program!" And that's where I=20
started. I dabbled with BASIC, with perl, with Inform, with PHP, with SQL=
=20
queries, and with Python. Not enough to do it for a living, but enough to=
=20
grasp the portable concepts.
So this week and last, I asked a LLM platform (I won't specify) to code me=
=20
up:
- a fix for PowerPoint slides counting up (5) instead of down (2 slides=20
remaining)
- a Pandoc filter to convert Word tables to Sphinx's list-tables (because=
=20
my Pandoc doesn't support the --list-tables argument)
It went fast. It went faster because I knew enough about programming to=20
spot some incorrect assumptions and fix bugs, but it still went fast. It=20
went slower because I kept adding robustness checks and because I caved to=
=20
endless suggestions to improve, but it still went fast.
Sure, I'm happy I'm not twenty-somethin' years old and starting out as a=20
technical writer. But I'm quite a bit happier that I'm starting out as a=20
software developer.
--=20
TechWR-L is the =E2=80=9CTechnical Writers List=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 an email=
discussion list focused on all issues in technical communicatio
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<div>Long before ChatGPT was a gleam in Sam Altman's eye, the stance of mos=
t people including managers was "Anyone can write!" Now that AI is at our t=
hroats, the rats are deserting a ship that they perceive to be sinking. Who=
needs technical writers?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm going to try to re=
main amused as long as I can, especially after a week in which I learned th=
at software developers are more easily replaced by AI than tech writers are=
.</div><div><br /></div><div>One big idea behind BASIC was "Anyone can prog=
ram!" And that's where I started. I dabbled with BASIC, with perl, with Inf=
orm, with PHP, with SQL queries, and with Python. Not enough to do it for a=
living, but enough to grasp the portable concepts.</div><div><br /></div><=
div>So this week and last, I asked a LLM platform (I won't specify) to code=
me up:</div><div><br /></div><div>- a fix for PowerPoint slides counting u=
p (5) instead of down (2 slides remaining)</div><div>- a Pandoc filter to c=
onvert Word tables to Sphinx's list-tables (because my Pandoc doesn't suppo=
rt the --list-tables argument)</div><div><br /></div><div>It went fast. It =
went faster because I knew enough about programming to spot some incorrect =
assumptions and fix bugs, but it still went fast. It went slower because I =
kept adding robustness checks and because I caved to endless suggestions to=
improve, but it still went fast.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sure, I'm happ=
y I'm not twenty-somethin' years old and starting out as a technical writer=
. But I'm quite a bit happier that I'm starting out as a software developer=
.</div>
<p></p>
-- <br />
TechWR-L is the =E2=80=9CTechnical Writers List=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 an email=
discussion list focused on all issues in technical communicatio<br />
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