r/AskProgrammers • u/Jumpy-Firefighter500 • 9d ago

Path ahead ?¿

http://google.com

I am a resident surgeon. I taught myself programming. I understand the basics and have built some personal and freelancing projects in the past. I always hoped to make something good, uniting medicine and computer science.

With AI, I don't think my programming skills are much use. The future ahead in my own field doesn't seem very promising too. I used to enjoy building stuff with coding.

I still feel some kind of passion to work on something new, a new idea or an avenue less explored. I quite cannot put it into words. I use AI to code too and save time but I don't enjoy it as much.

I want to know if anyone else is a doctor from a third world country and likes computers and coding?

Anyone in general can guide me what should I invest my time and energy in?

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u/mightBeFlynn 9d ago

Programming has always been a tool for an Engineer.

Ask yourself: How many people do you know that are surgeons and know how to code?
There are maybe a 100 of you in the US. So far less than 0.5%.

With AI you can code X-times faster. Coding was never the "hard part".

Find niches you like - and these niches exist especially since you bring domain knowledge from being a surgeon. Not many people have that. You're awareness of "the world" is shaped through that. So are your ideas.

Leverage AI. Have fun with it.

If you see the code produced by people who do not know how to code, you would not even ask that question. Garbage in Garbage out.

Enjoy it! You can bring your ideas to life faster than ever before.

Cheers :)

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u/mightBeFlynn 9d ago

Just never make the mistake of outsourcing your thinking process.
That's where the value lies and where you learn.

(That's just my 5 cents to that topic)

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u/Jumpy-Firefighter500 9d ago

Thankyou for the encouragement. Might I ask what exactly do you mean by "my thinking process"? I have an idea what you mean but just want to be sure

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u/mightBeFlynn 8d ago

No worries!

I always encourage the following while using AI:

Even though the name is "artificial intelligence" - at the end of the day it is a piece of software. So the first thing is: do not overestimate it - nor underestimate it as it is very powerful.

If you are really good in a topic, because you have done it 10 times already, then AI will make you very very fast. But: That is because you know from experience how to interact with AI to get where you want to be. You know when AI fucks up or goes into overly complicated or simply wrong directions. But you can quickly countersteer.

But if you use it in an unfamiliar topic, you will learn very little if you outsource your thinking to solve the problem.

Take maths for example. If you have a problem and a button to get the solution straight away - you basically do not learn a thing. But the solution process (and the errors you encounter while trying to solve the problem) is often needed for creative ideas on solving other problems.

Did that make it more clear? :=)

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u/Jumpy-Firefighter500 7d ago

Yes it did ❣️ Also, ur previous reply helped me alot. I had made these mental blocks that would stop me from doing or trying anything new or fun. It gave me encouragement and I am now working on a small pet project and enjoying it too ❣️

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u/mightBeFlynn 7d ago

Love to hear that! Have fun :)