I am curious how non-coders are currently using frontier ai models and capabilities. Specifically in technical fields. I am a mechanical engineer and I have been blown away by the capability growth this year. My workflow is actually tangibly changing now that the agentic capabilities are growing. I will also say that for my domain expertise the newest models are gaining significant ground on knowledge and understanding. I currently operate almost exclusively out of VSCode with the Codex and Claude Code extensions. Unfortunately, the Gemini extensions seems much further behind (Gemini itself doesn’t seem tuned enough for the harnesses for non-coding work either). I do like to use Gemini in the traditional chat due to its excellent technical knowledge and large context window. The actual workflow changes: I no longer actually write out almost anything directly. Memos, calculations, documentation, etc. I give instructions and feedback to AI, like an intern. I have converted most of my mathcad/Excel calculations into Python scripts with CLI wrappers. These end up in skill files that are able to fully discuss how and when to use the different scripts. Now I don’t know how to actually code so the llms build this out on their own and I run in depth verification tests on the scripts to ensure they operate how I expect. Most of my time is spent reviewing outputs and gathering context. I generally create fresh workspaces for new projects and add in project documents. VSCode brings everything into one spot, which is very nice. I can directly kick around ideas with the LLMs in my workspace. They can go look for more context or I can add relevant files super easy. This just speeds up the process so much. And their intelligence really helps me super charge my learning and decision making. Their ability to read plans has also crossed a threshold where I can typically just tell them to go look at a certain sheet, and they can pull all relevant information. I guess the biggest changes really boil down to my workspace and the fact that it truly is like having a very intelligent intern that I can give instructions to in real time with the codex and Claude code extensions. Btw I just use the $20/month subscription tiers. I wouldn’t say I’ve noticed a great speed up necessarily, but definitely a dramatic increase in quality and documentation. And honestly, maybe the most important, job satisfaction. I enjoy this workflow much more and I feel more capable. Drafting hasn’t changed at all as of right now unfortunately. Big bummer but I imagine it’s coming soon enough. Codex is putting together my final calculation packet in LaTeX right now so I had a little extra time to play on Reddit. It’s hard to find people around me who are doing anything remotely close to what I am. It feels a little isolating. How are y’all using these systems? Any suggestions or concerns with what I have said so far? TLDR: my workflow is actually changing now as a mechanical engineer. I mostly work in vscode with codex and Claude code extensions to get a lot of high quality work done, and I enjoy it much more. submitted by /u/qazeed
Originally posted by u/qazeed on r/ArtificialInteligence