I'm working on an Arduino project and have been using ChatGPT for some advice and troubleshooting. It’s been helpful in giving me ideas, code examples, and general guidance on components. However, I know that some forums suggest caution with AI-generated responses, so I wanted to get input from experienced Arduino users here.
Is ChatGPT considered a reliable source for Arduino project advice? Are there common mistakes or limitations in its responses that I should be aware of? I'd love to hear any insights or experiences from those of you who have used it in your projects.
If you're really interested on discussing this theme, I would suggest This topic.
In a nutshell, AI can actually help you writing boring parts of code or giving you some insights IF you know what you're doing and you're experienced enough to detect coding flaws.
One problem with LLM's common mistakes is that they are the most common, most statistically easy-to-miss mistakes:
This means that AI doesn’t just make errors — it makes subtle errors, the kinds of errors that are the hardest for a human in the loop to spot, because they are the most statistically probable ways of being wrong. ... the most common errors that AIs make are the ones we don’t notice, because they’re perfectly camouflaged as the truth.
ETA: This made me think of this clip about a teacher explaining that it isn't enough for a teacher to understand students' mistakes, but they have to understand how the mistake happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrwDM4ejNqs Debugging other people's/AI's code is somewhat like that--you have to decode the broken logic behind the mistake.
What a liar. Your first try at posting chatGPT garbage here got you nowhere, and you ended asking humans for a solution. Now, you ask chatGPT if it is good at coding, it lies to you, and you ask humans if it is lying. Speaking for myself only; keep your chatGPT garbage to yourself and off the forum.
You have to know how to ask questions. I asked chatGPT a question about your circumstances, what it said is below. I can tell you for sure that not eveyone here will be entirely willing to put in any effort if you drag chatGPT code here and expect help debugging it.
a7
Alright, let’s look at some potential downsides to relying heavily on ChatGPT for learning and programming Arduino:
1. Over-Simplification
ChatGPT can sometimes oversimplify explanations, leaving out important details or nuances. This might make you feel like you understand a concept, but later, when you encounter more complex situations, you could realize you missed critical background knowledge.
2. Limited Context and Understanding
ChatGPT doesn't "see" your setup or your exact hardware configuration. This means it can't diagnose hardware-specific issues, like a faulty connection or a power problem, as well as a real person or more specialized resource could.
It also doesn’t have the ability to run code on an actual Arduino to test if it works, so errors or misconceptions in the code may go unnoticed until you try it out yourself.
3. Generic Solutions
Sometimes, ChatGPT's answers can be generic, especially when asking for help with common problems. It may not offer creative or out-of-the-box solutions that might be necessary for more specific or complex issues you face in your projects.
4. Potential Misunderstandings
While ChatGPT can answer a lot of questions, its responses aren’t always 100% accurate. It might occasionally give you incorrect advice, especially on more advanced topics. If you don’t know enough to spot mistakes, you could end up learning something wrong.
It might also miss the subtlety of certain errors or fail to provide enough explanation when troubleshooting, leaving you confused when things don't work.
5. Dependency
If you rely too heavily on ChatGPT, you may become dependent on it for answers, rather than learning how to research, troubleshoot, or solve problems on your own. Part of learning programming involves developing critical thinking and debugging skills, which might be stunted if you're always turning to ChatGPT for an answer.
6. No Direct Interaction
Unlike a tutor or a community, ChatGPT can't provide real-time, interactive feedback in the way a human mentor or forum can. If you're struggling with a deeper concept or need a hands-on guide, this lack of back-and-forth could slow your progress.
7. Lack of Personalization
ChatGPT doesn’t truly understand your learning style or what parts of a topic you’re struggling with. It can only provide answers based on the questions you ask, which might not always align with your specific learning needs.
8. Potential for Miscommunication
Communication with ChatGPT isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, if you're unclear in your question or if the prompt is too broad, it might give an answer that's technically correct but doesn't really address your problem. Without a clear understanding of your question, ChatGPT might lead you down the wrong path.
9. Not as Engaging as Other Learning Methods
Learning by conversation with a bot can lack the engagement, enthusiasm, or practical experience of working with a mentor or collaborating with other learners. You might miss out on some of the benefits of a more interactive, human-driven learning experience.
10. Overloading with Information
Sometimes, ChatGPT can overwhelm you with too much information, especially if you're just starting out. You may end up with a lot of text or code snippets that are hard to digest, making it difficult to focus on one concept at a time.
Final Thoughts
While ChatGPT is a useful tool, it shouldn't be your only resource for learning Arduino. It’s easy to fall into the trap of relying too much on it and missing out on developing deeper skills, critical thinking, and real-world troubleshooting abilities. It's better to use it as one of many tools in your learning toolbox, rather than the main source.
For simple issues, yes, to design difficult aspects, no.
He has the tendency to invent functions, he will never tell you "I don't know."
Since conversations are not maintained within the algorithm, the AI has no feedback to improve responses, therefore "there is no way for me to learn from previous experience."
ChatGPT and similar generative AI tools seem to be useful tools for generating Arduino coding guidance.
It is not "reliable." Consider that these tools are all using info gleaned from various sources on the web (including the Arduino forums), and THAT information, even from humans, it not particularly reliable, either. Before all this AI stuff, there were numerous cases where someone would post "I'm following this tutorial that I found..." and had to be told that the information in the tutorial was wrong (or more frequently, "inaccurate and incomplete, leaving out important pieces.")
If you don't know anything about what you are doing, you won't be able to figure out which parts of what an AI tells you are "sketchy."
