Peter Naur's essay argues that large language models (LLMs) cannot replace human programmers because they lack the ability to build theories, a crucial aspect of programming. Naur emphasizes that programming involves the development of a deep understanding of the system, which LLMs, as mere consumers of textual data, cannot achieve. Consequently, to believe LLMs can effectively write software undermines the complexity and theoretical nature of programming work.
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theory-building ✓
+ naur
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epistemology ✓