The topic of the uprising AI is all people talk about nowadays. But it also seems that people are divided into two fractions… The one fearing it because of the risk of losing their jobs or because it is a brand new technology… And those who see it as a tool that is going to enhance their workflows and make their life easier. Yes, there are going to be jobs and tasks that become obsolete. BUT there are also going to be so many more opening up just because of AI. Programmers especially have been said to be replaced by it. Though if you are a developer yourself, you know that it’s not going to happen any time soon. So instead, learn how to utilize AI as a game programmer to enhance your skills and get ahead in your field of expertise.
Skyrocketing Your Coding Skills With AI
AI is currently revolutionizing technology and like it always has been, it can be quite scary at first. It is very important to learn about new tools and how to implement them in your workflow. You don’t have to master it straight away but the more you know about it the better you can work with it.
While AI is still only in its infancy people are definitely going to develop it further and further over the years making it more and more accessible for people. In its current state it can’t fully replace people. It still needs a lot of supervision and knowledge from more experienced people, especially when it comes to coding. I am going to show you ways and processes to use AI to your advantage without falling into any traps.
Don’t Only Rely Solely On AI Codes
A lot of beginners make the mistake of only counting on AI to write their codes for their program. But no matter if they work in a corporate setting or release their own product… They are going to realize very soon that it takes more than just an AI to develop a proper software. You still have to understand what you, or in that case, what the AI is doing.
You can use Google Translator to interpret for you. But without understanding the language itself, you’ll never find out where the communication went wrong in the first place. The same goes for the code the AI provides you with. It might be a good base to go off with or if you just need a quick mock-up. Though often the AI code isn’t as efficient or as well built as you might think.
Use It To Overcome Programmers’ Block
As the name suggests, programmers can have a blockage just like artists and writers have. Staring at a blank page can be intimidating to get the ball rolling takes a lot of energy and effort. Or maybe you are in the middle of a huge project and stuck for some reason?
In that case you can use ChatGPT as a tool to give you some suggestions on how to move forward or where to look next. This can save you a lot of time and stress in the long run if you know how to avoid programmers’ block during your coding.
It Can Be A Great Starting Point For Your Project
Editing and refactoring codes usually is faster than writing everything from scratch. This is where AI can save you a lot of time. Simply ask programs like ChatGPT to mock up a quick code for you. Now you can use this as a skeleton to build up on. From there you can tweak and rewrite the code as you see fit to enhance until it’s to your liking.
AI is at its best mediocre when it comes to code quality. But what it really excels at is one thing: Speed. It’s ideal for quick mockups to get everything started. but you still have to chip and file away at it to mold it into the perfect piece of code you had in mind for your game.
Save Yourself Hours Of Debugging
Every programmer knows debugging and the nightmare it can be. Sometimes you have to spend hours, days or even weeks troubleshooting and figuring out why something isn’t working. Debugging is an integral part of the programming process. This is where AI can help you to reduce the time you have to spend on identifying and locating bugs in your code.
AI can spot and identify a lot of problems while also providing you with a solution. Of course this isn’t always the case. It still needs a huge amount of knowledge about coding itself but it can spare you hours of research.
Use It To Optimize Your Code
Some of you might be confused with this one. Haven’t I just mentioned in this very article that AI is mediocre at its best and that it is way better in terms of speed rather than quality? Yes. Yes I did. But sometimes, especially if you’re just starting out as a developer, you can use it to see and check if there is something obvious you didn’t think about.
While the code provided by AI is hardly groundbreaking, it does know the most important rules. Maybe it can shorten a line without changing its outcome? Or maybe there is a more efficient way to write a certain bit of code that you’ve never heard about or maybe just have forgotten?
Summarizing Long Documentations
Who doesn’t know how much of a hassle it can be to fight your way through a very detailed and long documentation while you’re searching for information? I personally don’t mind and actually like to sometimes sit down and go through them to analyze the author’s work but sadly more often than not you don’t have the time to do that.
If you are hitting crunch time or things have to be done ASAP, it can help to throw the whole thing into an AI program so that can give you a short summary of the whole thing so you roughly know what it’s about. This can spare you hours looking for documents that may or may not contain the information you need. It is very common for Google to suggest an article just because there was one sentence mentioning the problem you’re trying to solve while the whole thing was about a totally different topic after all.
Know The Limitations Of AI
Now that you know a few ways how you can speed up your process as a programmer using AI, we also need to look at its downsides and pitfalls that you have to look out for. Those can vary strongly depending on the AI you are using but we have gathered the gist of it so you have a general outline of the things you should be careful of.
Limited Understanding Of Coding & Context
While AI is advancing every day, it does have a limited understanding of code and only can get you as far. This is why you should definitely use other sources as well and cross-reference the output the AI gave you so you can be sure everything is in order.
Sometimes AI algorithms also sometimes struggle to really understand the context of your prompt resulting in generic or irrelevant advice. AI definitely does a better job than the average search engine at giving us what we want without having to browse for hours but it also has its limits.
Training Data Issues
Like with all AI programs, the AI can only be as good as the data it is trained on. This means data that hasn’t found its way into the algorithm yet will not be considered at all. This also means that inefficient or even incorrect code suggestions can also find their way into the AI if they are trained on the wrong data, so always be mindful of that!
The other problem with the training data is the fact that it creates a bias towards specific solutions and patterns as well as self-inflicted harm since most AIs also train themselves to become more efficient but at the same time their answers become more and more generic.
AI can be a very versatile tool that can be used in many different ways and through many different practices. What works for you and what doesn’t is totally up to you but you have to be aware of both the ups and downsides if you are considering working with AI. Building upon the suggestions AI makes is the fastest and best solution but solely building a project on AI code is sooner or later going to collapse like a house of cards.
If you’re interested in how to work with AI in general, maybe you are also curious how artists are implementing it in their own workflow:
AI As A Tool: How To Speed Up Your Process As A Concept Artist Using AI
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