I returned to “Rust By Example” a few nights ago and got frustrated. The book does not methodically lay out important concepts very effectively. The examples include key pieces that haven’t yet been covered in unhelpful way. I switched over to the regular docs to look up some things, which was helpful and clarifying, yet unsatisfying for learning methodically.
Tonight I tried instead to ask ChatGPT about some of these topics. The responses were surprisingly better - focused on the topic with clear code examples, just the right amount of detail, and of course the ability to ask followup questions on related topics I was interested in, or request clarification. This is an under-appreciated superpower over a book or even structured document. You can’t talk to or otherwise interact with a book and ask it questions!
LLMs may or may not be “true” AI, and they have plenty of issues, but the ability to interact with it and dig in on your own terms is incredibly valuable for learning. All this presumes that what they generate is actually correct, of course, which is… well, highly variable.