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Sure. Software is essentially creative work. I'm not worried about our industry. I'm worried about what our industry will do to other industries.

by beat 8y ago

everdev 8y ago
I think it will still affect software. Things can always be done faster. I think it'll be like farming where it won't go away but fewer people can do more work. I can imagine a day where voice recognition can allow marketing folks to just say what they want changed on a website and AI makes the update and asks for confirmation before pushing it live.
- beat 8y ago
  I'm not worried. I've been in this industry for 25 years now, and seen multiple technical revolutions. (Back in my first serious job, we were hand-rolling streaming data protocols with lex and yacc on raw sockets! There was no ssh, no xml, no json, and http was a lab toy in Switzerland.) Requirements are hard. Understanding what needs to be done, and doing it all in the correct order, with buy-in from all concerned parties, is an essentially human, creative problem. It's not a simple matter of "marketing folks ask the AI to update the site", because they don't know how to ask it. Software is like all those tales of people getting their wishes granted by a genie or something, and regretting it because what they asked for wasn't actually what they wanted. And who turns someone's dreams into something the genie will do correctly? Programmers. We're the interface between the world of human needs and the world of technical realities. We're doing craft. Our tools may change, but our problem is constant.
gremlinsinc 8y ago
Yeah, software devs will be the rich/elite in 20 years (we'll be the only ones employable).
- krapp 8y ago
  Nope. Most software development jobs, along with many other "creative" jobs, will be automated as well.
  - gremlinsinc 8y ago
    eventually, but -- creative will go AFTER doctors/lawyers/etc... I can't wait for politicians to go.

Sure. Software is essentially creative work. I'm not worried about our industry. I'm worried about what our industry will do to other industries.

by beat 8y ago

Sure. Software is essentially creative work. I'm not worried about our industry. I'm worried about what our industry will do to other industries.

everdev 8y ago

I think it will still affect software. Things can always be done faster. I think it'll be like farming where it won't go away but fewer people can do more work. I can imagine a day where voice recognition can allow marketing folks to just say what they want changed on a website and AI makes the update and asks for confirmation before pushing it live.

beat 8y ago
I'm not worried. I've been in this industry for 25 years now, and seen multiple technical revolutions. (Back in my first serious job, we were hand-rolling streaming data protocols with lex and yacc on raw sockets! There was no ssh, no xml, no json, and http was a lab toy in Switzerland.) Requirements are hard. Understanding what needs to be done, and doing it all in the correct order, with buy-in from all concerned parties, is an essentially human, creative problem. It's not a simple matter of "marketing folks ask the AI to update the site", because they don't know how to ask it. Software is like all those tales of people getting their wishes granted by a genie or something, and regretting it because what they asked for wasn't actually what they wanted. And who turns someone's dreams into something the genie will do correctly? Programmers. We're the interface between the world of human needs and the world of technical realities. We're doing craft. Our tools may change, but our problem is constant.

gremlinsinc 8y ago

Yeah, software devs will be the rich/elite in 20 years (we'll be the only ones employable).

krapp 8y ago
Nope. Most software development jobs, along with many other "creative" jobs, will be automated as well.
- gremlinsinc 8y ago
  eventually, but -- creative will go AFTER doctors/lawyers/etc... I can't wait for politicians to go.