Sadly I feel the Excel analogy holds still, where maybe 80% of its users can't write a SUMIF() formula or make a pivot table to save their lives, yet they will happily use Excel every day as digital grid paper. Meanwhile Microsoft made a lot of money selling Excel licenses.
replyIt’s my favorite analogy against the cliche LLM will revolutionize all white collar work. Excel is probably the most powerful business application most people have used, but as you said, people only scratch the surface. No LLM magic will make people more fluent with software. Sadly it’s a combination of not knowing what you don’t know, and time pressure from the employer. My analogy usually ends by saying that if the government mandated 200 hours of Excel courses, it would probably be a faster and cheaper productivity leap than adding an LLM into everything.
replyYes but
replyI think you’re underestimating “average users”. If we talk about the median, then probably you’re right, but if we talk about “the group of people clustered around the average” I think there’s a lot of untapped potential, especially in people who assumed data and programming were unknowable/impossible and have therefore been held back by “good” tools like excel