I like the analogy as someone who is a carpenter by trade and have dabbled in creating a few working things over the last years only because of the advancement of LLM code generation.
As a carpenter, you come up with *stuff* from your mind and just make it exist. LLM building feels very similar to how quickly you can from idea to something that works for a given purpose.
I do think a more accurate analogy would be to place the software engineer as the construction superintendent.
The superintendent is jack of all, master of none. They may specialize in plumbing, electrical, hvac, masonry, or carpentry but relies on experts where they lack. They can fix any issue with any of these trades, but only when needed. They know enough to know when something is wrong and needs corrected (and may even be able to correct it themselves), but they are not actively building or laying each wire or stick of wood during construction.
Steering the LLM is closer to this than just carpentry alone, as software consists of many specialties within one building if you will.
I like the analogy as someone who is a carpenter by trade and have dabbled in creating a few working things over the last years only because of the advancement of LLM code generation.
As a carpenter, you come up with *stuff* from your mind and just make it exist. LLM building feels very similar to how quickly you can from idea to something that works for a given purpose.
I do think a more accurate analogy would be to place the software engineer as the construction superintendent.
The superintendent is jack of all, master of none. They may specialize in plumbing, electrical, hvac, masonry, or carpentry but relies on experts where they lack. They can fix any issue with any of these trades, but only when needed. They know enough to know when something is wrong and needs corrected (and may even be able to correct it themselves), but they are not actively building or laying each wire or stick of wood during construction.
Steering the LLM is closer to this than just carpentry alone, as software consists of many specialties within one building if you will.