I've decided to try out AI coding tools when I start writing code for DGS. I know a lot of you really hate the idea, but I hope at least some of you will be curious enough to hear out my reasons for it.
If you disagree with what I'm saying, and would like to discuss it honestly and in a civil manner, I'd love to do that. Please read to the end first though.
I know there's a lot of really shitty use of AI going on right now. But it's still a powerful tool, and I believe it can be used ethically. It's a bit like guns in that way. Imagine a world where there was no penalty for armed robbery. Our current AI landscape isn't quite as bad as that, but it's reminiscent.
Getting back to game dev. I've used Claude for a while now, as a rubber duck that talks back. It has limitations, and you need to know how to work around them, and to know when it's likely to hallucinate, but once you get a hang of it it's pretty useful.
I've started to experiment with getting it to write small Python scripts for me, because I've been too tired to write them myself. I'm sick and I spend a lot of time in a state where I can talk and write, but I can't do sustained coding level thinking. I can't lift that heavy.
But I can describe what I want, and evaluate the results, and iterate until I get what I want. And I've been surprised at how good Claude has been at writing the little plain text wrangling scripts I've wanted. Even more than that, it's writing understandable code. The functions are laid out in a sensible way, and I can easily skim them.
In short, I've been impressed. I hadn't planned to get into AI coding, it just kind of happened when I had a problem and was looking for a solution that didn't require me to be properly awake.
DGS has been on hold because I'm in no shape to code. But what if it didn't have to be? What if I could work with AI tools, describe the structures I want in as much detail as I want, and let it do the lifting I can't right now? I've been looking at Windsurf and it looks like it could maybe do that.
And when I'm (hopefully) well again, or at least better, it could let me produce work faster than I otherwise could as a solo dev. Would that be unethical? Right now I'm leaning towards "no".
I've spent a lot of time thinking about the ethical use of AI, and what it means to me. These are my rules so far:
- If I'm attaching text for the AI to use as context, I've first read all of it myself.
- If I'm using text written by AI, I've gone over it with the same care I would if I had written it myself.
- If I'm using AI outputs as part of something I'm publishing, I clearly disclose it.
What would the internet look like if everyone using AI to produce content was doing this? A lot nicer than it is now, I think. And I think there would be a lot less objection to it.
None of this addresses the copyright issue. The AIs I'm using have, in all likelihood, been trained on copyrighted material used without consent. I wish there was something I could do about it, but when push comes to shove, it's not something I'm going to stop using AI over. It's a weight on the scale but it's not enough.
And I'm sorry for that. But it feels like one more thing I'm sorry for, like the clothes I'm wearing, the devices I use, the fossil energy that heats my home. Living today feels like a constant barrage of choosing the lesser evil.
So I'm continuing to live in this society, trying to do the least amount of evil. Hoping that my game will make up for some of it. Hoping that you'll forgive me.
without directing the AI to reference the specific text uploaded
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