The field of computer programming is not immune from the coming automation-of-everything.
In this video, some guys demonstrate the current state-of-the-art in computer programs that are able to write computer programs. Which sounds weird and tautological. But it’s kind of cool to watch.
At the end, they use their computer programming computer program to use Microsoft Word, which long ago became too complicated for humans to use effectively anyway. So now… they have made a program that can operate Microsoft Word in response to your instructions. Progress!
This quote is relevant, and I like it a lot, by one of my favorite contemporary bloggers:
“Computers are just going to get better and better at stuff, and at some point probably they’ll be as good as humans at various things, and if you ask them if they’re self-aware they’ll give some answer consistent with their programming, which for all I know is what we do too.” – Scott Alexander
Indeed a cool demonstration. Still, knowing how buggy MS Word is and how speech recognition can mangle things, I can easily imagine less desirable demonstration results cropping up from time to time.
Speaking of which … there are reasons I’m happy with my 2G cell phone.