Many say generative AI is like a vending machine. But if your vending machine has not 1 button but a keyboard, and you type anything you want in, and it makes it (Star Trek Replicator) and you use it 10,000 times to refine your recipes, did you learn something or not? How about a 3D printer, do you learn something making designs and printing them?

Instead of "vending machine", I see many people calling generative AI "slot machine", which more aptly describes current genAI tools.

Yes, we can use it 10,000 times to refine our recipes, but "did we learn from it"? I am doubtful about that, given that even after running with the same prompt 10 times, it will give different answers in 8/10 responses.

But I am very confident that I can learn by iterating and printing designs on a 3D printer.

Star Trek replicators were deterministic. They had a library of things they could replicate that your programmed in and that’s the extent of what they could do. They replicated to the molecular level, no matter how many times you ask for something, you got the exact same thing. You’d never ask for a raktajino and get a raw steak. In the rare instances where they misbehaved as a plot point, they were treated as being broken and needing fixing, no one ever suggested “try changing your prompt, or ask it seventeen times until you get what you want”.

3d printer: you learn something of you make CAD designs yourself and print them yes. It is a skill.