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Coding with AI for Beginners

Steven Clark

Utah State University

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Agenda

General AI Tips

AI Search Engine

AI Dedicated Program

AI Text Editor / Extensions

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General AI Tips

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Effective Prompting

  • Assign a Role (or a way of thinking)
  • Provide Context
  • Be Clear and Specific About the Assigned Task
  • Specify Output Format (tone, style, length, format, code language, etc.)
  • Break it Down (manageable chunks)
  • Practice and Refine

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AI Imperfections

  • AI is not perfect, then again, neither am I
  • AI works better as you learn to use it better and as you train it
  • “AI will not replace professionals, but professionals who use AI will replace professionals.” - Paul Roetzer

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AI Search Engine

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Search Engines with AI Built In

Google (google.com)

Brave (search.brave.com)

DuckDuckGo (duckduckgo.com)

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AI Dedicated Program

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Strengths of Dedicated AI

Context Continuity

Keep / Return to Prior Conversations (remembering context)

Custom AIs for Different Needs (Agent, Projects, Custom GPT, etc.)

Access to More Advanced Models

Personalized

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Lots of Options

Microsoft Copilot

ChatGPT

Etc.

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AI Text Editor / Extension

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Strengths of AI Text Editors for Coding

Easier to add context (all or select files)

Continues to evolve as you edit your file

Make changes across one or more files

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Approaches to Using AI Text Editors

Get Me Moving

Prototype / Structure

Auto Complete (Tab Completions)

Chatbot

Create a Project From the Start

Alter Existing Code

Chat, Edit, Agent

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Thoughts - Questions