I see a general trend for developers to want to put syntax and semantics back into the prompting. This whole idea that we can just get rid of formal languages entirely and replace them with natural languages isn't going to pan out; we have formal languages for a reason -- you don't have to guess the magic spell that will cause the output you want, you can get the output you want because you know how the system works. It's a much less frustrating and consistent way of dealing with computers unless you fancy yourself a bureaucrat.
If this actually happens, I would imagine that talking to an LLM would be a combination of formal syntax and natural language, so the task will look more like software engineering than black magic.
"This whole idea that we can just get rid of formal languages entirely and replace them with natural languages isn't going to pan out; we have formal languages for a reason -- you don't have to guess the magic spell that will cause the output you want, you can get the output you want because you know how the system works"
This reminds me of Inform 7 (where you can use "natural language" to program text adventure games) and "visual" programming languages like Pure Data.
They are fine for simple things, but when you want something complex or want to debug something they can become a nightmare.
LLMs are currently better in many ways than Inform 7, and they'll likely get better still, but there will likely still be a role for formal languages. Fortunately, LLMs can take formal language as input as well, and with the addition of plugins, they'll be able to execute programs written in formal languages.
I thought all the time I spent on interactive fiction was wasted, but it turns out Inform 7-ish NL syntax lends itself well to building minigames in GPT.
> Please function as a TTRPG engine.
> All characters start with 100 tokens representing LIFE, which can range from 0 to 100.
> Health scales with LIFE. At 0 LIFE, you are dead. At 100 LIFE, you are in peak physical condition.
> This reminds me of Inform 7 (where you can use "natural language" to program text adventure games)
The problem (at least, the problem I had) with Inform 7 is that it's not really natural language; it still has a strict formal grammar defining its syntax, it's just that the grammar has lots of "synonyms"; multiple syntaxes for the same thing. But it's still following strict rules, and those rules can't cover everything. This leads to situations where you write some "plain English" and it seemingly understands it, but then you write tiny variation and it throws up a syntax error.
If this actually happens, I would imagine that talking to an LLM would be a combination of formal syntax and natural language, so the task will look more like software engineering than black magic.