Linux Creator Reveals the Future Of Programming with AI

Let's look at what Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, thinks about the future of programming with AI.

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Chapters:
00:15 - Famous computer scientist
01:48 - AI code assistance
02:58 - Next abstraction level
03:41 - Language model evolution
05:47 - Obvious bug detection
07:30 - Human pattern recognition
10:14 - Continuous human errors
11:55 - Caution against hype
12:34 - AI's positive influences
14:05 - Natural language applications
15:27 - Improved development tools
18:14 - Importance of open data

[matthew_berman]

Will there be an application layer in the future?

[wangelite]

a nuclear plant is just some refined earth making heat

[BunnyOfThunder]

Imagine being able to juggle 7 things at once. It's crazy hard. But after 20 seconds of amazement watching you, a lot of people will say, "okay but can you do 8?" And if you then do 8, they will say, "okay now do 9." The biggest cause of AI skepticism is that we can see a miracle today and find it mundane tomorrow.

[chronicallychill]

LLMs are not just predicting the next token, they actually map the representational space and this can be seen across different human languages where the models activate the same patterns. They are actually learning something besides the next token.

[I-Dophler]

🎯 Key points for quick navigation:

00:15 *Famous computer scientist*
01:48 *AI code assistance*
02:58 *Next abstraction level*
03:41 *Language model evolution*
05:47 *Obvious bug detection*
07:30 *Human pattern recognition*
10:14 *Continuous human errors*
11:55 *Caution against hype*
12:34 *AI's positive influences*
14:05 *Natural language applications*
15:27 *Improved development tools*
18:14 *Importance of open data*

Made with HARPA AI

[first-thoughtgiver-of-will]

To an observer who doesnt consider the nuances, when I am coding all Im doing is writing the next token.

[thinkbuddyai]

Great content, we're looking forward to more AI breakthrough updates!

[deepspace]

I think you're completely wrong on two specific points:

1) It's possible simplistic apps like a "to-do" app will be accomplishable via an LLM/AI directly, but enterprise grade software at scale is not even on the horizon for something AI will be able to do natively, so this idea that applications are going away is ridiculous. Maybe simple consumer apps on your smartphone, but not one meaningful and scalable application is even close to being replicated natively by AI.

2.) You've spoken before about this idea that one day LLMs might just write code in a completely esoteric and proprietary language only other AI systems can understand, and I find that to be the most horrible and dystopian idea ive ever heard. Having software and systems out there running and interfacing with humans lives whereby we have zero people on the planet who can read the underlying code and/or validate how these systems actually work under the hood is absolutely HORRIBLE.

I cannot think of one singular system we have created thats out there running today, whereby there are zero humans on the planet that can validate for us how it works. Having software written in completely unreadable code should legitimately be outlawed at the governmental level; this idea is just that toxic and profoundly dangerous to humanity.

[DavidMallon]

I lead teams of developers and have always told my team, 'Our job in writing code is to automate ourselves out of existence!' I didn't think it would happen so soon. Developers love shiny new tools!

[pensiveintrovert]

And now LLMs are training us to write in the language called "Prompt" which marginally resembles English. That is if you actually want the code to work.

[gargleblasta]

1:10 he doesn't give an opinion about ai, it is an opinion about LLMs

[thecodebear]

So after like 3-4 months of using AI tools to code, I’ve realized something. The whole "NO MORE CODING" thing in the future might actually be kinda true, but "NO MORE SOFTWARE ENGINEERS" nah, that’s not happening.
AI is cool and all, but it gets stuck in these dumb infinite loops sometimes—like it keeps trying to fix itself but just ends up making the same mistake over and over. That's where we humans come in. We can spot those mistakes and come up with new solutions AI just can't think of.
Plus, there’s literally endless stuff to innovate in tech. We’re always gonna need engineers to come up with new ideas, like inventing algorithms AI can’t even imagine. For example, a human might invent a compression algorithm that’s never existed before, something AI isn’t gonna do on its own.
So yeah, AI might cut down on the actual coding we do, but we’re still gonna need engineers to keep pushing the limits and creating new things. Things like creating landing pages, simple web or mobile apps for small bussinesses would become more simple with ai. but creating new things and new technology i think that is what engineers would be doing in the future.

[brunodangelo]

Recently discovered Linux. Installed it on my server PCs where I use it with ollama and LMStudio.

Even brought back to life a 9 year old laptop that was literal garbage with windows. Now it's like new.

I'm so happy with it that I'm seriously considering switching my main to linux.

[halnineooo]

The AI is a tool, but it's a tool in the hands of the final user. A calculator is no longer a tool in the hands of the middlemen whose job was performing calculations by hand for a living. Those middlemen are gone and the calculator is now a tool in the hands of the final user. Same goes for AI.

[whoami]

Human language is not the last step, it is just thinking and visualizing

[TheOlympicsAreFakeandRigge-hj]

This is an old video. But Torvalds has used Machine Learning to code for at least three decades now. What? You thought he was writitng 20 million lines of code per week BY HAND???? HAHAHAHAHA

[ernestog]

"Doesn't matter if the AI replaces programming, at the end the problem is to teach people to think. Believe not many people have the gift. On the other hand, it is to understand the situation and explain it to the computer. It will be the same to use logic, math, code, or simple words."

[szellllest]

Please stop misinforming.

It is not true that everyone is using "cloud computing".

Small companies still use dedicated servers, due to less costs and less complexity.

[thom]

Holding up a "todo" app as an example is pretty close to saying: no one's going to need a "hello world" app anymore. There will always be a demand for precision 3D modeling software, video editing software, etc Maybe not by noobs who would be content to ask an LLM, but certainly by those who can use them to their greatest potential. Likewise for the software itself. There will be less need for programmers sure, but the need will never completely eliminated.

[marc_frank]

isn't that an old video? i think i already saw that interview.
ok now you said it
and the primagen reacted to it, too, i think