AI taking over

[BIGAL]

I have noticed the drop in posts in forums like Lisp, here, Autodesk and Theswamp, I think it's because people are using AI more to write code. Even I try AI now and again when stuck, it is successful some times. The most obvious here is when the AI code does not work help is asked for here.

 

Maybe Admin could comment about number of posts say compared to 1 or 2 years ago ?

 

Or is it that a lot of new users just don't ask for help ? I know I push for process improvement and have often tried to influence people into saving time but the majority just don't care. 

 

Any body else want to comment ?

[EnM4st3r]

I also think that its AI, especially for new users. I mean AI is good at coding or spotting errors and asking an AI often gets you an answer way faster than starting a forum post.

For example here is a chart of stack overflows posts

[GLAVCVS]

There is no doubt that AI is replacing (and will do so even more in the future) the need to interact with something or someone in order to find ideas and the motivation to pursue them.
I don’t know which AI tools are the best for programming (I’ve only used Chatgpt so far), but my experience has been positive in terms of how stimulating it is to have someone to discuss ideas with and refine them while solving problems.

This was something that, in the past, could only be found in forums like this one.
However, the code suggested by Chatgpt is almost always lengthy and often fails.

I suppose that will change over time.

[rlx]

I have mixed feelings about Clippy the AI , at least the one from Google , sure its fast and it can give some relevant answers but you have to double check everything. I am trying to create a dcl editor. Wasn't sure where to start so asked Clippy and it gave me some good ideas on where to begin. But as things got complexer it really started to mess things up. And every time you use it you need to explain every thing all over again because at least the free / unregistered version remembers (saves) nothing . But I learned from my mistakes and started to write a very extensive manual so next time I can upload that so we can better pick up from where we started.

 

My biggest concern is that it creates a black box. You ask something , it gives you something back and you paste and test the code , great , moving on to next part. After a while you end up with a bunch of working code until it doesn't any more and that's where the trouble begins and you notice you have lost your grip on the code because Clippy did it all for you. Like your daddy did all your homework for you and you have to take the exam and ...oops , daddy aint around now is he?

[SLW210]

IMO, it's more social media, plus there are quite a few fora around now, and it seems the Autodesk forum is busier than it used to be.

 

Cadalyst forum went dead while it seems The Swamp and CADTutor were still very busy, recently AUGI closed their forum for new posts.

 

Years ago many of the fora I am a member of slowed down, from cars and motorcycles to fishing/hunting. I know the Bambu Labs and other 3D printing fora are somewhat busy and also handle many 3D modelling questions as well as specifics for the 3D Printers, I never noticed Solidworks and other 3D CAD companies having anything close to the traffic of CADTutor or Autodesk at even current traffic.

 

To be honest, there really is a glut of answers for most questions now with little need to interact on the fora. At some point AI will run out of new answers, the most I use AI is when it tries to summarize your search results, and even that can be iffy at times with incorrect summarization way to often.

 

I've never been a member of Reddit, but I often find answers there without signing up and interacting.

 

There have in the past few weeks been several new members ask a question and disappear, just the way the world has changed I suppose, seemed in the distant past more would come back and let you know the results and/or give a thank you.

 

If the fora die off, AI will have to find new sources for accurate answers, it probably already is iffy with results due to finding inaccurate answers and not being able to parse correct from wrong.

 

I received this quote in an email this morning...

 

Quote

“People worry that computers will get too smart and take over the world. But the real problem is that they're too stupid and they've already taken over the world.” — Pedro Domingos, computer science professor and machine learning researcher

 

With computers being dumb, you will have to make sure the people using them are intelligent.

 

Recently on Facebook I've noticed people posting AI answers for rules in different sports, AI is almost always wrong, basically answering with the same incorrect interpretation of rules as the parents and some coaches, etc. use.

[SLW210]

5 hours ago, EnM4st3r said:

I also think that its AI, especially for new users. I mean AI is good at coding or spotting errors and asking an AI often gets you an answer way faster than starting a forum post.

For example here is a chart of stack overflows posts

 

Posts are one thing, but what about the actual traffic? Like I stated, most fora already have the answers to questions, so often no need to interact and make a post.

 

CADTutor shows most online 9,928 April 2nd 2026, which was probably a lot of AI bots, etc. 

[hmspe]

I think the issue is more generational than anything else.  In the forums I keep up with, including here, theswamp.org, and MikeHolt.com, I've noticed that most of the core group have been Boomers.  As a whole, younger generations have seemed to visit to get help, but not stay to help others.  [There are notable exceptions like Lee.] 

 

AI is being oversold.  I've tried both Claude and ChatGPT for programming help with LISP.  Neither has produced code that worked on the first pass for anything more than a trivial case.  We're about even on times when I've had to point out syntax errors in AI code and times AI has found syntax errors in my code.  AI is a great replacement for most search engines, but it is not all that great at writing code, at least on the free tiers.  AI output is only as good as the instructions it is given.  Writing good instructions is hard.

 

AI and the dot com bubble have a lot in common.  In five years I expect we will have fewer AI companies, mostly paid tiers, and lots of empty data centers.

[mhupp]

 

1 hour ago, SLW210 said:

Years ago many of the fora I am a member of slowed down, from cars and motorcycles to fishing/hunting. I know the Bambu Labs and other 3D printing fora are somewhat busy and also handle many 3D modelling questions as well as specifics for the 3D Printers, I never noticed Solidworks and other 3D CAD companies having anything close to the traffic of CADTutor or Autodesk at even current traffic.

 

To be fair Soildworks Forum layout/search is trash. I have never started from the forums to find something its usually a link from a search engine to there.

 

20 minutes ago, hmspe said:

I think the issue is more generational than anything else.  In the forums I keep up with, including here, theswamp.org, and MikeHolt.com, I've noticed that most of the core group have been Boomers.  As a whole, younger generations have seemed to visit to get help, but not stay to help others.  [There are notable exceptions like Lee.] 

 

The search engines like google are in a fight right now with AI chatbots and in the end content creators/websites are being affected. going to get worse before it gets better. I genially like AI but its a tool not a solution. but most people unfortunately are ok with "good enough". AI companies are claiming 100x efficiency that is impossible. I liken it to a side scroller game like the dino chrome 404. play that 100x speed and see how far you get.

 

51 minutes ago, hmspe said:

AI and the dot com bubble have a lot in common.  In five years I expect we will have fewer AI companies, mostly paid tiers, and lots of empty data centers.

 

[Steven P]

For Al, I always assume it is nothing more than google on a few steroids, not a lot more.

 

For LISPs - like google, if you ask it for snippets where you are stuck it will get something that works, but something more complex not really. Then you have to break it down get the snippets and sew them together. Anything new or novel that isn't out there is won't cope.

 

So for my work it might help with a few LISPs to improve accuracy or efficiency but the actually money maker and drawing stuff, not seen anything close yet.

 

Made me think though, SLW210, have we actually worked out all (or nearly all) the LISPs we need and just need to find them? (apart from the very specific ones).

 

Last comment - RLX, very true, if I pass anything around the company I need to be able to maintain it, an undocumented 'black box' solution still needs time to make it work.

[Least]

AI is a mixed bag for me. Copilot can be infuriating at times — it keeps using LISP functions that aren’t supported in AutoLISP, or ACAD‑only functions that don’t work in BCAD. It can wander off into rabbit holes even after you’ve told it not to, and sometimes it changes working code for no reason and breaks it.

But with some persistence and back‑and‑forth, it can produce really good functions.

I’ve also tried Claude, which is much better in lots of ways — the code tends to run first time.  If i run out of credits then I continue on with co-pilot. I used Fable just before it was banned, and that was pretty amazing too.

AI still needs a lot of guidance to produce anything worthwhile. It can be overconfident, sometimes it doesn’t listen and it doesn’t always think clearly about the end goal.

I’m currently updating a lot of routines I’ve cobbled together over the years, and AI is helping polish them and fix issues I’d hit a wall with.

It’s here now, and it’s not going anywhere.

Can forums embrace it? I’m not sure. With the amount of knowledge stored on these pages, maybe CADTutor could even build its own AI. No idea how easy or expensive that would be, mind you...