PSA: I used to manually check every sensor on my project, now I just ask a local AI model to do it.

For a greenhouse automation setup, I used to write scripts that pinged each of the 12 sensors individually, which took about an hour to code and debug. After a workshop in Austin last fall, I started using a small language model on a Raspberry Pi to write those checks for me based on plain English notes. It cuts the setup time down to maybe 10 minutes, but I worry I'm losing the deep understanding of the system's guts. Has anyone else felt this trade-off between speed and hands-on knowledge getting sharper or duller?

2 comments

2 Comments

blakecampbell6d ago

That worry about "losing the deep understanding" is real... I heard a podcast call it the "generation loss" of skills.

thomas.piper6d ago

Saw this happen to a buddy who works on classic cars. His dad taught him everything, real hands on with the engines. Now my friend just plugs in a computer to find the problem. He told me he couldn't rebuild a carburetor from memory anymore like his dad could. The computer does the thinking, so the skill just fades away. Feels like we're trading know-how for convenience.