Thoughtful AI for the Rubyist

As a Rubyist, you like to put intention into your code for a clear, readable, and inviting result, just like our MINASWAN community…so how can we bring that to AI? How can we get that intention while leveraging AI tools to create our Ruby solutions? Let's have a frank discussion about what can and can't help us with our coding and how, in the end, we have a better solution that allows us to work faster without losing that special spark that Ruby can have. This talk will discuss AI coding tools and prompts with purpose. The AI solution isn't always idiomatic ruby, so you know better what works for your codebase than the robots.

Transcript

1. Thoughtful AI for the Rubyist A Discovery in Three Acts Christine Seeman
5. DISCOVERY → CONFLICT → RESOLUTION ↓ ↓ ↓ 🎸 Guitar ⛪ Priests 🔮 Oracle
6. Discovery I can’t wait to share this new wonder… Act 1
7. You love Ruby because it is a delight to program in. But AI feels... different. The people will all see its light
8. Ruby code (clean, readable) vs AI output (verbose, unclear) Let them all make their own music
9. "I designed Ruby for humans, not for machines." —Yukihiro Matsumoto, aka Matz
10. Ruby's Community Core Values: MINASWAN • Matz is Nice And So We Are Nice • Developer happiness • Readability • Expressiveness
12. Am I becoming dependent on a crutch? Am I cheating by using AI to write code?
13. What the Ruby Community Says • Ruby developers are split on AI • AI often generates code that works but doesn't feel idiomatic • Real concern about "use it or lose it" with fundamental skills • Most used for tests, but tests often need complete rewrite
14. Regular users (Daily/Weekly) 35% 1.8/5 AI can’t handle Metaprogramming 65% of AI users Used AI for writing tests
15. "Don't bring a forklift to the gym. Human skills are use it or lose it.” — Individual contributor , 11+ years experience "My biggest concern is that dependency on LLM tooling creates an indentured class of developers, who are then at the whim of whatever premiums these companies decide to charge." - Developer comparing AI dependency to calculator use
16. What if we could have both? Working faster while building deeper knowledge AI that enhances our craftsmanship rather than replacing it The Ruby community collaborative spirit applied to human-AI partnership The Priests praise my name on this night.
17. The people will all see its light DISCOVERY ✅ → CONFLICT → RESOLUTION ↓ ↓ ↓ 🎸 ⛪ 🔮
18. Conflict I know it’s most unusual To come before you so… Act 2 ⛪
19. Where AI Excels with Ruby ✅ ✅ 🥳✅🥳 ✅ Code generation Refactoring Documentation Testing ✅ Git Commits ⛪ Yes, we know
20. Where AI Struggles 🫣 😩 🫤 👎 Metaprogramming Ruby idioms/style Rails conventions Blocks and iterators ⛪ It’s nothing new
21. Code That Doesn't Feel Ruby-like ⛪ It’s just a waste of time
22. Thoughtful Prompting aka Teaching AI to speak Ruby ⛪ We have no need for ancient ways
23. Prompting with Purpose Before: "Write a method to get users" ❌ Ineffective (Vague) After: "You are a senior Ruby developer following the Ruby Style Guide. Context: Rails 7.1 application Task: Write a method to find a user by ID Requirements: - Follow Rails conventions - Use idiomatic Ruby patterns - Avoid explicit nil checks - Handle missing user gracefully" ✅ Effective (Specific Context ⛪ Our world is doing fine
24. Prompting with Purpose ❌ Ineffective: Write a commit message ✅ Effective (Convention + Context): Generate a conventional commit message: Context: User authentication Changes: Added password reset validation, fixed token expiration bug, added RSpec tests Format: <type>(<scope>): <subject> Use imperative mood, 50 chars max ⛪
25. Advanced Prompting ⛓ Chain-of-thought: "Explain your reasoning step-by-step" 📏 Constraint-based: "Refactor this method to make it 5 lines or less" ❓Error analysis: "Spot potential errors in this code" ✅ Verification Prompting: "Does this feel Ruby-like?" ⚠ Avoid Negative Instructions 🐣 Beginner-friendly: "Explain this concept like I'm a beginner" ⛪
26. — Avdi Grimm "To work faster I leveraged an LLM as my hands" ⛪
27. The Hidden Cost - Context Switching 🧠 Human limitation: We can only truly focus on one thing at a time 🧐 AI creates context switching: Jumping between writing code and evaluating AI suggestions 󰷻 The cost: Each switch takes 15-25 minutes to regain deep focus 🧠 Research backing: 20% of cognitive capacity lost during context switches (PMC Research 2023) 🧐 Brain imaging: fMRI shows frontal and parietal lobes respond to unexpected task switching (Wake Forest 2024) ⛪
28. Survey Dependency Concerns Fear of becoming "indentured" to expensive AI tools Don't bring a forklift to the gym. Human skills are 'use it or lose it. Brain-task-based skills can be very 'use it or lose it'. The difference between using basic autocomplete and having an LLM generate entire blocks or even files, is significant. ⛪ Concern about junior developers not learning fundamentals
29. Automation Bias - Don't Lose Yourself ⛪ • Automation bias: Tendency to assume computers know more than humans • The Ruby perspective: AI doesn't understand Ruby's philosophy or your codebase • Healthy skepticism: Your instincts and knowledge matter more than AI confidence • Research backing: Professional experience and domain expertise are most protective factors against automation bias You're the Ruby expert, AI is just a tool
30. Tools of the Trade ⛪
31. The dream is still in my head… DISCOVERY ✅ → CONFLICT ✅ → RESOLUTION ↓ ↓ ↓ 🎸 ⛪ 🔮
32. Resolution I wish that it might come to pass Act 3
33. From discovery to understanding 💎 We've seen what AI can do (and can't do) 💎 We've learned how to prompt thoughtfully 💎 We've explored the partnership model AI as tool, not replacement Not fade like all my dreams
34. "In a world of abundant cheap code, what becomes scarce: Understanding. Judgment. The wisdom to know what not to build" - Kent Beck "Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand" - Sandi Metz "AI is going to be more valuable in helping programmers understanding existing code rather than generating new code" - Martin Fowler Just think of what my life might be
35. When to Use AI 👍 ✅ Rails generator-style boilerplate ✅ Basic CRUD operations and controllers ✅ RSpec test skeletons ✅ Migration file generation ✅ Simple refactoring (rename methods, extract variables) ✅ YARD documentation comments ✅ Git commit messages: Transform "fix stuff" → "Fix user authentication bug in SessionsController:42" In a world like I have seen
36. Beware the path you take 🚫 🤖 ❌ Complex metaprogramming and method_missing ❌ Security-sensitive authentication logic ❌ Performance-critical optimizations ❌ Gem architecture decisions ❌ Advanced ActiveRecord relationships ❌ Custom DSL design (leave that to the humans!)
37. Community-derived wisdom for AI usage 🗣 "Let it rough draft, and you refine. If it doesn't get it right on the first or second try, don't get frustrated, just dip into the code and do it yourself." 🗣 "Never assume the LLM is right, challenge everything they tell you." 🗣 "Don't try to replace your brain with it, rather ask, how can I augment my abilities with it." 🗣 "Narrow the scope of the task and be specific - give the AI tool bite-sized, well-defined tasks with clear guardrails."
38. How to use AI without losing Ruby's essence Human-centered design 󰰧󰰤󰰚 Developer happiness over efficiency 🥳 Readability over cleverness 📖 "Ruby is the most 'human' language I know: written for humans, with interesting human foibles, reads like human language" — Sean Goedecke Attention all planets…
39. We shape how AI develops • Share your experiences (good and bad) • Mentor thoughtful usage • Contribute to Ruby-specific AI tools
40. — Rich Steinmetz The whole midterm future of the 'AI coding thing' is us collaborating with the IDE/editor
41. Key Takeaways - The Resolution Your expertise guides Trust your instincts Share knowledge freely AI is a tool, not a replacement Does this feel Ruby-like? Community matters
42. We have assumed control... DISCOVERY ✅ → CONFLICT ✅ → RESOLUTION✅ ↓ ↓ ↓ 🎸 ⛪ 🔮
43. Our Complete Journey ✅ Discovery: Found AI tools and faced our fears ✅ Conflict: Explored capabilities, limits, and learned thoughtful use ✅ Resolution: Found wisdom in community and choose our path "We have assumed control..." but this time, WE control how AI serves Ruby, not the other way around
44. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, and includes icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik Thanks! What questions can I answer? christine-seeman.com github.com/cseeman/thoughtful-ai
45. References and Further Reading Thank you Rush, rush.com/songs/2112/, and RIP Neil Peart Full Reference can be found at: github.com/cseeman/thoughtful-ai/blob/main/resources/community-resources.md