Advice to Computer Science Students - Read More Literature!

I had a very interesting chat with a brilliant 15 year old, while in Charlotte last week. He has a 1,500 SAT score with an almost guaranteed future at MIT, Stanford, Harvard or any Ivy League school of his choice.?

As a multi-award winning student looking to study a Computer Science degree, he asked me for my advice as a tech founder.?

My answer surprised me!?

I said "Start Reading More Literature."

Computer Science is the art of instructing robots in their language. Whether it be a robot a data center, or a physical drone. With a Computer Science background you have the ability to give computers tasks in a way that they understand.?

However, AI is making computers able to understand instructions from humans in natural language.?

And yes, that’s reducing the need for basic developers.

You’d be amazed by how far ChatGPT, Claude and a few other free AI tools can get you in building products.?

Just look how easily you can create an app from your voice (thanks Daniel Porras Reyes for sharing):

I actually believe that a non-developer with good AI tools, brute force and a strong vocabulary can probably outperform a Jr Dev I would've hired 2 years ago.

To be clear, I DO NOT believe that AI will eliminate the need for software developers. It will, however, change how those software developers are utilized.

My firm belief is that tomorrow’s 100x developer will have a mastery of classical software engineering, and natural language communication. Effectively, using prompt engineering to instruct the robots to do all of the grunt work, at the same time as allowing them to focus on the highest leverage tasks.?

Prompt engineering is quickly becoming a discipline on its own, and that discipline is predicated on one’s ability to clearly articulate what it wants the computer to accomplish, in plain English.

When you consider how each word is unique, every word has the ability to convey a nuanced instruction. The ability to call on the right words, in the right context, will give you a master key that can unlock any problem.

The breadth of your vocabulary will determine how good of a prompt engineer you can become.

Many software engineers of today, they are “Math” people and don’t necessarily appreciate the value of the written or spoken word.?

I believe if they can get past that initial aversion, and focus on building their linguistic abilities, it’ll give them a huge advantage over other classical software engineers of yesterday.