Why Can’t ChatGPT Do What You Do?

I went to a networking event at Startup Week yesterday. Someone asked me:

This question came as a follow-up to my explanation of my Novel Software Kit (NSK). A framework that guides folks from ideas to working software. By incorporating vision, mission, strategy, development, and deployment.

I thought I’d have a ready answer to such a simple question. But admittedly, I floundered. Instead, I wandered into a random tangent about linguistics.

After the event, I reflected on the question. It reminded me of a challenge we faced, during my engineering career, while developing a credentials inventory service. An application that provided passwords to other applications.

The ”Secret Zero” problem.

The “Secret Zero,” or bootstrap, problem is a foundational security challenge. We need an initial credential , known as “Secret Zero,” to authenticate and access all other credentials.

This creates a recursive paradox: how do we provide a protected credential to the service that provides protected credentials?

The Recursive Paradox

ChatGPT, and AI in general, present a similar recursive paradox: A “narrative bootstrap” problem.

How do we use AI to learn how to use AI, if we don’t already know how to use AI?

AI needs the human element in order to replace the human element.

AI needs human credentials:

• Context : understanding the bigger picture.

• Judgment: choosing between multiple options, not just based on facts, but based on intangible wants.

• Intuition: sensing when something feels off, even if everything seems correct on paper.

• Discernment: telling the difference between what sounds good and what is good.

AI (ChatGPT), no matter how advanced, still relies on human credentials. Without human bootstrapping, AI is a locked door without a key.

So, why can’t ChatGPT do what I do?

If you’re feeling stuck at the idea, development, or delivery stage of your own software project, explore how the NSK can help bootstrap your vision into working software.

Novel Software Kit (NSK) provides the human credentials AI can’t replicate.