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dgerard@awful.systems

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AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower (pivot-to-ai.com)

submitted 2 days ago by dgerard@awful.systems to c/techtakes@awful.systems

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[–] HedyL@awful.systems 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

What fascinates me is why coders who use LLMs think they’re more productive.

As @dgerard@awful.systems wrote, LLM usage has been compared to gambling addiction: https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/06/05/generative-ai-runs-on-gambling-addiction-just-one-more-prompt-bro/

I wonder to what extent this might explain this phenomenon. Many gambling addicts aren't fully aware of their losses, either, I guess.

[–] Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

The reward mechanism in the brain is triggered when you bet. I think it also triggers a second time when you do win, but I'm not sure. So, yeah, sometimes the LLM spits out something good, and your brain rewards you already when you ask it. Hence, you probably do feel better, because you constantly get hits dopamine.