AI as an Instructor – The Backstory

Click the link below to listen to two AI generated podcasters discuss this blog post.

In the summer of 2008, I got my first iPhone—the iPhone 3G. I had two memorable reactions to this fantastic device. First, the “OMG, this is so totally cool!” reaction, and then, as someone who’d been writing software for 30 years by then, the “Hmmm, I bet I could write apps for this magical device.” reaction.

By then, I had gained a good understanding of C thanks to five years spent as a technical consultant with AT & T, the inventors of C. I figured I could whip up an app for my shiny iPhone 3 in a week, ten days at most—typical Dunning-Krugger behaviour. 

So, I bought a book on how to write apps for the iPhone using Objective-C to get me started. I still remember opening the book, reading the first paragraph, and having a big “WTF?” reaction. Objective-C and C were more different than similar.

Thus began a 17-year journey of learning and relearning how to write apps for the Apple ecosystem of devices.

Books—how-to books, books on design patterns, books dedicated to one specific framework, and so on—were critical to that wonderful experience.

Warp ahead to 2024 and AI. It’s time to skip searching through Amazon for the latest book on my interest of the month and test AI’s ability to teach me something new. It’s time to see how good AI is as an instructor.

Me: I want to learn to use the WeatherKit framework, which is available for MacOS desktop apps, using the SwiftUI programming language. Please create a five-part course going from simple to complex that I will use, with your help, to learn about this framework.

Claude 3.4 Sonnet: Here’s a structured 5-part course for learning WeatherKit with SwiftUI:

Part 1: Basic Setup & Authentication

Part 2: Current Weather

Part 3: Weather Forecasts

Part 4: Location Services

Part 5: Advanced Features

Me: Expand Part 1: Basic Setup & Authentication into steps, with instructions and code examples.

Claude: I’ll walk you through Part 1 of learning WeatherKit with SwiftUI, breaking down each component to build a strong foundation.

First, let’s understand what WeatherKit is etc.

Subscribe to be notified when the next five blog posts are published. I expect it to be a fun ride.

Midjourney prompt used to create this blogpost’s image:

A closeup of a smiling middle-aged male with curly hair and a salt-and-pepper beard wearing a distressed black t-shirt walking through a dusty and large Victorian reading room, shelves of leather-bound books line the wall, midday light shines in through stained glass windows, rays of light, Tyndal effect, motes of dust float in the air –ar 3:2 –style raw –c 15 –s 50 –v 6.1