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> Curious what other software engineers are doing to prepare for these types of obvious changes. Contemplating a professional change. Maybe I'm being overly pe
by malauxyeux 4y ago
> Curious what other software engineers are doing to prepare for these types of obvious changes.
Contemplating a professional change. Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic; people aren't being replaced yet. But maybe it's time for something else for me.
There are dire staffing shortages in nursing homes where I live – e.g., people develop bed sores because no one is available to turn them. I certainly could dedicate the rest of my life to that and it would make a real, tangible difference to people's lives.
It's a scary change though. I am a bit squeamish and I wonder how I'd fare. And it's a big loss in pay.
That's where I am in my AI-induced existential crisis, anyway.
- raincom 4y agoNursing homes abuse nurses, nursing assistants by hiring less number of people, also pay 50% of what hospitals pay. Just beware.
- ticviking 4y agoSounds like an industry ripe for disruption.
- giesch 4y agoPrivate equity has been disrupting it for a while, that's why it's like this.
- majormajor 4y agoVery few industries have been broadly "disrupted" by replacements that hire more people to give more individual attention to each customer. It's rather antithetical to the whole model.
- malauxyeux 4y agoThanks for the warning. I'm in small town France. I know the picture isn't rosy. E.g., one of the nursing homes near me is Catholic-run and so understaffed that on Sundays, only those attending mass are helped out of bed. That place pays its nursing assistants a premium, though wages are still low in the field, compared to everything else. There just aren't many people willing to do a tough, rather gross job.
- flangola7 4y agoToyota is working on nursing robots that can handle many of the routine tasks like helping people out of bed and walk to the bathroom.
- malauxyeux 4y agoThat would be lovely, considering the staffing shortages, assuming it doesn't deprive people of their remaining autonomy – when you start doing things for old folks, they tend to lose the capacity to do it themselves, surprisingly quickly. There's already lots of tech in nursing homes to make transferring people easier on the caregivers, but full automation would be great. But beyond that, getting people out of bed is one thing. Undressed, washed, skin treatments applied, dressed is another.
- jeffreygoesto 4y agoHow many relatives did you have in a nursing home? People being forced to live there because they typically can't live at home any more, are deprived of social contact. Staff has only minutes to do the most necessary things and rush on to the next. Full automation would be hell. People are social, even if they often don't admit it. Have you ever seen the eyes of an old person getting a gentle back rub and a little conversation? Don't try to take that away.
- malauxyeux 4y ago> Don't try to take that away. I'm not sure if you meant to respond to me or someone else. Or maybe my response wasn't clear. No problem either way. I don't think full automation of carer duties is going to come anytime soon. It's far too technical and delicate. And absolutely provides psychological benefits for residents, as you said. What would be great is if technology could provide even more help for transferring folks from one place to another securely. Lots of elderly people fall. And lots of carers get injured when they try to stop elderly people from falling. Edit: Maybe it's the word "transfer" that's wrong and causing the misunderstanding. It probably sounds like the old people get put on a conveyor belt or something. "Transfert" is the word used in French nursing homes for helping a person get – say – from their bed to the toilet or to their recliner. And it's risky for everyone involved.