So certainly not impressive, and morally ambiguous, but when chatGPT first released, I worked with it to create a python script that crawled The New Yorker sitemaps, found articles with embedded audio versions, downloaded the mp3 by reconstructing the file url using the article ID in the page source, and then renamed the file to match the page title and saved it to a well structured Google Drive directory. Now when I walk my dog, exercise, or clean, I'll put on a random article and have a much more enjoyable experience than a podcast would offer. The mp3s were publicly available so I think it's fine for personal use?
I'd never written a line of code in my life, so going through the iterative process of getting it functioning and fixing bugs was pretty invigorating. I could see where the generated code was going awry and describe it in natural language, and chatGPT would turn that into syntax and explain why it worked. Definitely a fun way to learn.
I'm sure it's ugly/inefficient, but here's the script:
"going through the iterative process of getting it functioning and fixing bugs was pretty invigorating."
Damn right it is! Writing scrapers is definitely the gateway drug of programming. It's such an exciting feeling to step across the boundaries from "passive user at the mercy of the UI" to "I can do anything if I can conceptualise it (and break it up into steps)".
You summed up what dragged me from "Sure I'll learn to program a notepad or todo app so I can learn, but I won't" to "I can do anything if I think about what I want first, then how to get it!"
+1. Writing scrapers and even API calls were the step for me that went from "I'm making my computer do something" to "I'm making my computer do something that's interacting with the outside world on terms that I programmed it to. Whoa! I can do a lot of different variations of this!"
For me it was writing MIRC scripts that monitored the IRC channels I was in. So it was scrapping the content, but not nearly as elegant as what the OP mentioned.
Pretty impressive to be able to create such a script when you haven't programmed before.
I used to freelance when I learnt to code in college and I wrote many such small automation scripts for quite a few people. Looks like the AI is already taking away some jobs ;)
You might be one of the first of a new generation of programmers who start with no programming skills, bootstrap with chat gpt and reach a high level of capability. Keep hacking!
I'd never written a line of code in my life, so going through the iterative process of getting it functioning and fixing bugs was pretty invigorating. I could see where the generated code was going awry and describe it in natural language, and chatGPT would turn that into syntax and explain why it worked. Definitely a fun way to learn.
I'm sure it's ugly/inefficient, but here's the script:
https://pastebin.com/raw/DuAVAikD