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Comment by extr | Hacker News Reader

This is what ChatGPT is made for. I also like to learn concepts by analogy with concepts I already know. Before, you had to search for books and posts made explicitly with this in mind. "Javascript for Python Developers" or the like. Now you can explicitly ask GPT to formulate explanations with your specific context in mind. Game changer.

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And made, even, to help me write out a series of tutorials on ChinesePython[0], a topic which intrigued me for years but I always found daunting to learn (along with learning Chinese), what with the lack of materials that used English, so I made this for people completely new to Chinese.

0: https://chinesememe.substack.com/i/103754530/chinesepython

I'm very skeptical of this use case. It's great if it gives you correct information but I often find it ranging from slightly wrong to completely off base.

It sure does, but nevertheless: if you already understand the fundamentals of programming, I'd say this is a fine thing to do with GPT.

But has it ever been harmfully wrong? Like, you run the code and it does the wrong thing, so you work on it until it's right and maybe learn something unexpected along the way, right?

I think it's reasonably analogous to how learning worked without an AI buddy, but it's faster because unlike using search engines for help, you don't have to navigate a space that's weaponized against your attention to find the next useful bit.

That's funny, I'm actually starting to lean that way as well! It can go at the speed or in the direction I choose to. The power is blinding! :-)

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