3 ms·

I'm unemployed now and trying to look for work, but the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" is making it really hard for me to get excited about learning

I'm unemployed now and trying to look for work, but the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" is making it really hard for me to get excited about learning new tools. I know this is self-defeating, but between how fast the programming landscape already changes and this, it just feels like I'm in an industry that is so hostile to its own inhabitants. Whereas when I was a professional Ruby programer, everything was nice, because the community really cared about making developers lives nice.

ajkjk 2y ago
there are a lot of people lying and grifting in order to make money / prop up their stock prices / feel important ignore them
buza 2y ago
Spend time using them. You'll quickly learn how much they aren't living up to the hype.
timewizard 2y ago
> the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" That I've been hearing this for several years straight without any exponential increase in the capability of the technology makes me assume this is false. > it just feels like I'm in an industry that is so hostile to its own inhabitants. You are in a historical period where industries are largely monopolized and are notably hostile to those who earn the largest salaries. > because the community really cared about making developers lives nice. The community isn't going anywhere. AI can't replace our need to connect with and achieve large advancements with each other. The golden era of computing has been dwarfed by commercial concerns, but it has not, and will never disappear entirely.
- nixpulvis 2y ago
  Now I'm curious how similar being a software developer is to being a doctor, in the way of having to stay up to date with the latest stuff. Like, how much new medical research is just hype nonsense, and how much is something I should really learn. And how many doctors are selected during interviews for their currentness in research which is overhyped. What other industries suffer from this to this extent?
  - yunwal 2y ago
    > how much new medical research is just hype nonsense There are actual rules in medicine about the devices, medicines, and procedures you can and can’t use. You can’t just have a doctor use a device or medicine that hasn’t been proven to be as good or better than the existing standard of care (unless you’re specifically participating in a clinical trial). So the amount of BS you can get away with is limited in that way. However, medical providers are also under a lot more financial stress than most startups, and less constrained by market pressures, so there’s a lot more incentive for straight up corruption (e.g. ordering unnecessary expensive tests).
PyWoody 2y ago
In my experience, a lot of the talk about AI making engineers obsolete is coming from people that have some odd, deep-seated hated towards SWEs. I don't know why people in tech receive so much vitriol compared to all other white collar workers but they definitely do. I have a family member who genuinely hates SWEs and the "lazy dorks" in tech, but, it's like, Buddy, your wife works in tech... You worked at a tech startup that failed...You are now trying to start a startup with only an AI writing the software. You are in tech! But, since he can't read or write code and just delegates to an AI, it's somehow different in his mind. It's honestly exhausting to be around.
- nixpulvis 2y ago
  I can tell you why people hate tech... becuase so much of it is built poorly and causes nothing but frustration for people. These people are stuck on calls with robots when they need help, or angry that they lost a password and need to prove their identity, they are irritated by broken, ad riddled websites. I used to think I'd be part of the solution... but these days it really feels like nobody in the industry is willing to admit how bad it is.
  - PyWoody 2y ago
    I agree with everything you're saying but I'm referring specifically towards people's hatred towards tech workers. Maybe it's just because I live in a small town on the East Coast but it's brutal out here in the sticks. It's gotten to the point where if someone asks what I do for work, I just say "computer stuff" and wave my hands around like I'm typing on an imaginary keyboard. It's vague and odd enough that there aren't any follow-ups or rebuffs.
    - nixpulvis 2y ago
      I do the same thing out here on the west coast if I'm at a bar or whatever. But I think the hatred would be less if the average person actually felt like we were providing value proportional to our salaries, not just having salaries proportional to our intelligence. They also do not accurately understand the cost of keeping things running, which is a problem not isolated to tech. EDIT: wow I'm a special kind of dyslexic tonight. Got east and west mixed up. I live in Boston roflmao. I was picturing you living in northern cali or something >.<
rsynnott 2y ago
> but the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" is making it really hard for me to get excited about learning new tools Ignore it. It is marketing. There have been about ten “this makes programmers obsolete” crazes in the last 50 years (it actually goes back even further; COBOL was initially marketed this way!)
elzbardico 2y ago
If anything, the cambrian explosion of lines of code created by the advent of AI will generate decades of maintainance and rewrite work.
- Valord 2y ago
  I have seen this happening at work. What should have been a single file one-off script to do something was instead a full blown application "just in case".

ajkjk 2y ago

there are a lot of people lying and grifting in order to make money / prop up their stock prices / feel important ignore them

buza 2y ago

Spend time using them. You'll quickly learn how much they aren't living up to the hype.

timewizard 2y ago

> the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" That I've been hearing this for several years straight without any exponential increase in the capability of the technology makes me assume this is false. > it just feels like I'm in an industry that is so hostile to its own inhabitants. You are in a historical period where industries are largely monopolized and are notably hostile to those who earn the largest salaries. > because the community really cared about making developers lives nice. The community isn't going anywhere. AI can't replace our need to connect with and achieve large advancements with each other. The golden era of computing has been dwarfed by commercial concerns, but it has not, and will never disappear entirely.

nixpulvis 2y ago
Now I'm curious how similar being a software developer is to being a doctor, in the way of having to stay up to date with the latest stuff. Like, how much new medical research is just hype nonsense, and how much is something I should really learn. And how many doctors are selected during interviews for their currentness in research which is overhyped. What other industries suffer from this to this extent?
- yunwal 2y ago
  > how much new medical research is just hype nonsense There are actual rules in medicine about the devices, medicines, and procedures you can and can’t use. You can’t just have a doctor use a device or medicine that hasn’t been proven to be as good or better than the existing standard of care (unless you’re specifically participating in a clinical trial). So the amount of BS you can get away with is limited in that way. However, medical providers are also under a lot more financial stress than most startups, and less constrained by market pressures, so there’s a lot more incentive for straight up corruption (e.g. ordering unnecessary expensive tests).

PyWoody 2y ago

In my experience, a lot of the talk about AI making engineers obsolete is coming from people that have some odd, deep-seated hated towards SWEs. I don't know why people in tech receive so much vitriol compared to all other white collar workers but they definitely do. I have a family member who genuinely hates SWEs and the "lazy dorks" in tech, but, it's like, Buddy, your wife works in tech... You worked at a tech startup that failed...You are now trying to start a startup with only an AI writing the software. You are in tech! But, since he can't read or write code and just delegates to an AI, it's somehow different in his mind. It's honestly exhausting to be around.

nixpulvis 2y ago
I can tell you why people hate tech... becuase so much of it is built poorly and causes nothing but frustration for people. These people are stuck on calls with robots when they need help, or angry that they lost a password and need to prove their identity, they are irritated by broken, ad riddled websites. I used to think I'd be part of the solution... but these days it really feels like nobody in the industry is willing to admit how bad it is.
- PyWoody 2y ago
  I agree with everything you're saying but I'm referring specifically towards people's hatred towards tech workers. Maybe it's just because I live in a small town on the East Coast but it's brutal out here in the sticks. It's gotten to the point where if someone asks what I do for work, I just say "computer stuff" and wave my hands around like I'm typing on an imaginary keyboard. It's vague and odd enough that there aren't any follow-ups or rebuffs.
  - nixpulvis 2y ago
    I do the same thing out here on the west coast if I'm at a bar or whatever. But I think the hatred would be less if the average person actually felt like we were providing value proportional to our salaries, not just having salaries proportional to our intelligence. They also do not accurately understand the cost of keeping things running, which is a problem not isolated to tech. EDIT: wow I'm a special kind of dyslexic tonight. Got east and west mixed up. I live in Boston roflmao. I was picturing you living in northern cali or something >.<

rsynnott 2y ago

> but the sheer amount of "AI is going to take over" is making it really hard for me to get excited about learning new tools Ignore it. It is marketing. There have been about ten “this makes programmers obsolete” crazes in the last 50 years (it actually goes back even further; COBOL was initially marketed this way!)

elzbardico 2y ago

If anything, the cambrian explosion of lines of code created by the advent of AI will generate decades of maintainance and rewrite work.

Valord 2y ago
I have seen this happening at work. What should have been a single file one-off script to do something was instead a full blown application "just in case".