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Be Wary of Digital Deskilling
- throwawaysleep 9mo agoIs there a way to meaningfully be wary of it? The value of skill changes over time. There was a point when being a dev required things like download size optimization and performance profiling. How many devs today even conceptually know of those, yet alone do them?
- JohnFen 9mo agoThose things are still very important at my workplace. Particularly performance profiling.
- cootsnuck 9mo agoTo me, "be wary" means interrogate the intentions and motives of the people boosting certain technologies and applications of said tech. Don't consume industry "show-and-tells" unexamined. For me it doesn't mean "don't use AI coding tools", but rather when I do use them I should make sure I'm thinking about my own "agency" as it relates to the work I'm doing and ultimately accountable for. How do I ensure I'm centering my own skills as I use these tools and not off-loading "too much"? What do I consider "too much"? It's going to be different for everyone.
- kilpikaarna 9mo ago> Is there a way to meaningfully be wary of it? Refusing to participate. May involve accepting lower productive output and thus "standard of living". Considering how society-at-large handled the smartphone, I can definitely see concern for general cognitive decline as a result of externalizing ever more mental activity to machines. As well as the concerns voiced by Frank Herbert in the concept of Butlerian Jihad. > There was a point when being a dev required things like download size optimization and performance profiling. How many devs today even conceptually know of those, yet alone do them? Way too few, with a general decline of quality and much waste as a result.
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- Havoc 9mo agoNot sure this marxist deskilling lens really adds much to the prevailing question around replacing skilled labour. It amounts to machine does the work either way