hi i'm rachel! i'm not a software engineer but i've worked closely with developers for the past 8+ years and i've always wanted to build my own app... now, with generative AI, i've been able to start an iOS app from scratch without much coding experience.. it isn't perfect and an iOS engineer would do a much better job, but I am finding it really exciting what AI can do in terms of lowering technical barriers and getting non engineers involved in code. specifically interested in LLMs / tools / techniques that can help you build products and generate working code. reach out if you have any tips or suggestions!

Wow. This should be an interesting thread! I'll start it here, so that I get notifications... 🤗

Hello, Rachel. That’s very cool and thought-provoking. I’m curious how you’d define “non engineers”, and why you describe yourself as “not a software engineer.” I hope that doesn’t sound pedantic — rather, I’m interested in the ways you make a distinction between “engineer” and “person who created an iOS app from scratch.”

I think my question is: how did you get on with phrasing the questions, as ChatGPT (if that's the kind of thing you used) can be very picky around the prompts, as you know.

hey both! thanks for replying here.. as per your question Joe, I would consider someone a software engineer if they know how to code - whether they have a CS degree, or did a bootcamp, or learned on their own. Someone who can code and build applications. I have no formal training in coding. However, I am excited about the potential of AI to help me make an app by generating code for me. To answer your question Duncan - I've mostly been using a combination of asking chatGPT for the steps and code, and also using an app I am working on with a cofounder called Sublayer. We noticed that the chat interface is not really the best interface for building (and changing) complex apps, but we're still exploring the right workflow for it. Definitely eager to learn from this group how others are getting the best code generation out of the existing LLMs.

I've reposted to #C5T9GPWFL as I feel it's a hot topic, hope that's OK