ChatGPT is not the answer I wanted, but he one I needed right now.

If you've watched the Batman trilogy, this might sound familiar. This brief write-up on my personal use of GPT (in short) is about how it helped me go from knowing very little about code writing to getting quite far along in developing a new mining game. There are many things that worked well, and I will praise them, but there are also things that, well... could lead you down the wrong path if you're not careful.

Let me step back two months. I had an idea: I wanted to write a mining game. I had no clue how to write a single line of code. I had some elementary SQL coding experience, but I couldn’t differentiate between my definitions and functions or even know the difference. I had a $20 subscription to GPT that I was using for some simple Excel analysis, making funny pictures (which my kids loved), and doing quick research on mining-related questions.

One day, I woke up and asked, "I want to build a Mining Simulator, how can I start?" And with that simple prompt, I headed down a never-ending rabbit hole. My first bit of code was for an HTML simulator that incorporated some of my simple ideas about how mining works and followed a logical path. This will now serve as a teaser into my world and will be released online soon.

The HTML sim showed me that you could start developing something from scratch in just a few weeks. At this stage, I was copying and pasting my entire code and asking questions like, "Add X and give me back the entire code." I learned nothing... I was a copy-and-paste junky.

GPT - Rotting My Brain (And GPT's) I was consumed by the new knowledge and became power-hungry, thinking GPT could do everything for me. My initial code ended up with over 1,000 lines. By this time, after copying and pasting my entire code 20 times a day, GPT started running out of memory, as there was a 100 MB limit on what could be stored. I deleted all my other prompts and then implemented one function each day by providing my full code at the start, beginning with, "I am going to give you my full HTML code, please add X." This worked up to a point, but eventually, GPT would just return gibberish and nonsense values. At that point, I had reached the limit of what GPT could provide. I had to actually start learning the code and implement function by function, understanding the logic underneath. I realized that HTML was not the way to go and needed something better, so GPT advised me to go down the Python route.

Python - Different Day, Some Issues My initial interactions with GPT for my Python game were very similar. I would add bit by bit, still submitting my full code, and again, not learning much. Eventually, my code grew so large that, no matter how many times I cleared my prompt memory or provided my bulging 2k lines of code, GPT would completely ignore it and give me nonsensical answers. I was stuck with a game that was half completed, and I honestly didn't know how to fix or add anything. One day, my code was so broken that I gave up, restored a week-old Python file, and started again. So be warned: have backups ALWAYS!

Python - The Start of the Dream... The number of times I had to tell GPT, "That's not what I wanted," only to get back the exact same code 10 times over, was infuriating. I had to change the way I prompted and asked for functions—nay, now they’re definitions—to be added. I had to actually learn to code Python. I’m still not 100% sure how the main game loop works. I still have some duplicate code, I’m sure, and there are still some lines that do the same thing. But it got me started. It pointed me in a direction and gave me the basics. I still had to do some learning on my own. Now, I can write some elementary definitions, I can edit and update values, I can do my own error checks, and I haven't had to ask for a "Total Code" prompt in a week or so.

ChatGPT - The Future?

This is a difficult question that might upset the AI religious or AI-theists (see what I did there)...lol. Did it get me started? Hell yes. Could I have started without it? Yes, but that would have meant diving into HTML first, getting lost in that rabbit hole for months, only to realize it wasn’t what I wanted. Then, I would have had to learn Python for beginners, still far from where I am now.

GPT allowed me to fail—and fail fast. It gave me just enough guidance to point me in the right direction. The rest was up to me.

The Flip Side

Do I need it every day? No. But I’d much rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. It really comes down to a balanced approach. GPT will NOT do everything for you. There will come a point where it can’t cope with large code. For me, that limit was around 1,000 lines. After that, it would start to fail. Do I use it to check syntax in isolation now? Yes.

I’ve managed to accomplish in 2 months what would have taken me 12 months without GPT. The only reason is that I’m not a developer and didn’t have the basics.

ChatGPT - Or Not The Future?

What frustrates me about GPT's use are the so-called teachers and gurus who think it’s like playing god with the future of knowledge. If you didn’t know or use GPT, you’re still riding around on square wheels and inventing fire—bull. GPT is accessible to everyone, which is a big difference compared to many other modern technologies like Web 3.0 or Crypto. The AI preachers claiming "the time is now" are full of it. Does it have its uses? Yes. Is it the be-all and end-all? Definitely not. At most, it’s a great educational and convenience tool. And that might just be the key word—convenience. Modern life is about convenience. The AI religious or techno-spiritualists are selling this convenience, and people with no prior knowledge or understanding are eating it up. It won’t replace common sense or every job ever made. It just won’t.

PS: If this gets mentioned when the first T-800 is looking for me, I’m sorry. I did say thank you after successful code. I’m one of the good guys... :-)