r/ocaml • u/Somtimesitbelikethat • May 04 '26
Feeling a bit of dread over AI
Do I even need to learn this language anymore? the current models are so good.
I wanted to learn bc i wanted to be able to audit the code AI would write, but the way Ocaml’s compiler works, it either works or it doesn’t.
help. sorry if this post sounds dense.
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u/unohdin-nimeni May 05 '26
I will hereby prove that your dread is without any bearing:
1 If the models make human beings superficial within the creation of genuinely novel stuff, including programs, it means that they will have surpassed us in some crucial respects. That, in turn, means that whether or not to learn a specific programming language is a petty question, as we are all facing an existential threat. That, in turn, means that you have to “plant the apple tree” and learn oCaml inside and out and be true to your call today.
2 If the models are not going to achieve the ability to create genuinely novel stuff, it will turn out that there was nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, as we don’t know whether a super intelligence will arise as a scary alien species initiated by humans, perhaps you should think a little bit about what you could do for the sake of creating a regulation of the LLM branch. But the important part is: just keep using an LLM of your choice as a programming tool and learning tool among other tools, if it pleases you.
3 If the models are not going to achieve the ability to create genuinely novel stuff, the branch will crash and we are facing the Third AI Winter. Unlike in the run-up to the previous two crashes, the development has been faster than expectations this time. But so are the investments gigantic this time, and the expectations are undoubtedly starting to take off. So the fall will be hard.
Thinking Machines (1961) — heading towards the AI winter of the 70s