As someone that uses AI at work because 1. this is a run-out-the-clock situation, and 2. I don’t give a fuck and would like to be at my desk as little as possible, it feels weird and hypocritical to expect no AI in all of the software around me as well.
With that said, if I still had any semblance of passion for writing code, which I do not, anything I worked on for the OSS community would be fully devoid of AI usage. But I’m mentally at a point where I’d rather move to a cabin and use computers less and less with each passing day.
There’s also a huge difference between someone like Linus Torvalds, who understands code better than most people on earth, using AI supervised to increase productivity, and Timmy off the street having chatGPT build something he has no clue how it works or what code even does.
Vibe coding isn’t just using AI. It’s using AI to do things you don’t understand in the first place.
There’s also a huge difference between someone like Linus Torvalds, who understands code better than most people on earth, using AI supervised to increase productivity, and Timmy off the street having chatGPT build something he has no clue how it works or what code even does.
disagree. there’s no difference between the car mechanic or the politician pouring oil into the river. They’re both horrendous. sure, one of them might have a reason for doing so, but that reason isn’t a good reason.
100%. There’s a difference between asking AI to do things that you yourself don’t understand, and using it as a quicker route to something you already know as an engineer. The difference is that the engineer knows when to halt the agent or push back to do something properly. I don’t make AI dabble in languages I don’t already know myself.
Bookmarking this one for later. Thanks! It’s hard not to feel like my entire field has been cheapened. We spent so long perfecting our craft, only for it to to be completely devalued with speed as the main focus.
The bright side is that AI will never be as good as me when it comes to CSS. I’m still the go-to CSS person at work, despite folks having AI tools at their disposal.
only for it to to be completely devalued with speed as the main focus.
Welcome to the rest of the world. All middle managers and C suite dickheads know is “hurry up and get it done,” they’ve entirely lost the concept of “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”
The middle manager above my direct supervisor regularly clocks in late every day (and that’s after a 3h time difference no less, and it doesn’t seem he understands timezones either), and then with about 1.5h left in my day suddenly “hey stop what you’re doing and get this 3h of work done by the end of the day, but also no you can’t work OT.” Like “hey dickhead, it’s physically impossible to do that,” but of course instead of telling him, my direct supervisor just pulls that guy’s penis out of his mouth for long enough to say “yes sir” and tell me to break the laws of physics.
I’ve managed to land at a wildly uncommon yet positive company where engineers get to steer a lot of the timelines. We don’t always get what we want, but I feel like we have a better spot at the table than I have at previous jobs where it felt like MBAs and product people set the deadlines in stone before conversations with engineering even started. The only way I’ll leave this job is if they fire me.
It’s valid to feel that way working in software, but try to hold space also for the fact that computing is ‘the means of production’ in the information age, and how it is made and who controls it is inherently political.
I don’t give a fuck and would like to be at my desk as little as possible
I always had this stance and found it weird when people resisted. Your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss is telling you to work half as much? Whether you think that the output is half as good quality or not why the fuck aren’t you JUMPING at the chance to do that.
Whether you think that the output is half as good quality or not why the fuck aren’t you JUMPING at the chance to do that.
Two reasons actually.
Most people want to be productive in some way. Even if you don’t like your job very much, its a much bigger mental burden to sit around and do nothing than it is to actually work.
You employer isn’t going to pay you the same rate for half as much work done. It is that way now cause they have no idea what the actual productivity will end up being, but once the numbers are stable they will save as much money as possible. You will either be lucky and will work just as much as before with more but worse output, or you will be fired.
It’s coming after your job. Why would I want to feed my output into the Machi breathing down the ba k of all our neck? I like what I do. A carpenter isn’t going to be happy working in a factory where chairs are made by robot arms. I’m not gonna be happy working in a slop factory
But the HR lady can use it to make policies that are fucking stupid and my direct boss can use it to create an app to more effectively micromanage us without having to actually do the micromanaging himself so he has free time to blow his boss and cook breakfast for 30min on the clock every day.
As someone that uses AI at work because 1. this is a run-out-the-clock situation, and 2. I don’t give a fuck and would like to be at my desk as little as possible, it feels weird and hypocritical to expect no AI in all of the software around me as well.
With that said, if I still had any semblance of passion for writing code, which I do not, anything I worked on for the OSS community would be fully devoid of AI usage. But I’m mentally at a point where I’d rather move to a cabin and use computers less and less with each passing day.
There’s also a huge difference between someone like Linus Torvalds, who understands code better than most people on earth, using AI supervised to increase productivity, and Timmy off the street having chatGPT build something he has no clue how it works or what code even does.
Vibe coding isn’t just using AI. It’s using AI to do things you don’t understand in the first place.
disagree. there’s no difference between the car mechanic or the politician pouring oil into the river. They’re both horrendous. sure, one of them might have a reason for doing so, but that reason isn’t a good reason.
100%. There’s a difference between asking AI to do things that you yourself don’t understand, and using it as a quicker route to something you already know as an engineer. The difference is that the engineer knows when to halt the agent or push back to do something properly. I don’t make AI dabble in languages I don’t already know myself.
there’s a lot of wilful ignorance around that last point
I felt a lot like that too. I still do, but this helped me a lot:
Don’t take the black pill
Bookmarking this one for later. Thanks! It’s hard not to feel like my entire field has been cheapened. We spent so long perfecting our craft, only for it to to be completely devalued with speed as the main focus.
The bright side is that AI will never be as good as me when it comes to CSS. I’m still the go-to CSS person at work, despite folks having AI tools at their disposal.
Welcome to the rest of the world. All middle managers and C suite dickheads know is “hurry up and get it done,” they’ve entirely lost the concept of “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”
The middle manager above my direct supervisor regularly clocks in late every day (and that’s after a 3h time difference no less, and it doesn’t seem he understands timezones either), and then with about 1.5h left in my day suddenly “hey stop what you’re doing and get this 3h of work done by the end of the day, but also no you can’t work OT.” Like “hey dickhead, it’s physically impossible to do that,” but of course instead of telling him, my direct supervisor just pulls that guy’s penis out of his mouth for long enough to say “yes sir” and tell me to break the laws of physics.
I’ve managed to land at a wildly uncommon yet positive company where engineers get to steer a lot of the timelines. We don’t always get what we want, but I feel like we have a better spot at the table than I have at previous jobs where it felt like MBAs and product people set the deadlines in stone before conversations with engineering even started. The only way I’ll leave this job is if they fire me.
The process has been backward before LLM.
When we try to get a new customer, they already have a price point for their PCB and a release date that cannot be moved.
Without knowing what the requests they have will entail.
Thank you for linking that talk. I wasn’t expecting something that deep and also funny. I concur with your recommendation wholeheartedly.
It’s valid to feel that way working in software, but try to hold space also for the fact that computing is ‘the means of production’ in the information age, and how it is made and who controls it is inherently political.
No, coding should be done to garner clout, so eventually when I start my shitcoin, I can rugpull more people! /j
I always had this stance and found it weird when people resisted. Your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss is telling you to work half as much? Whether you think that the output is half as good quality or not why the fuck aren’t you JUMPING at the chance to do that.
Two reasons actually.
Most people want to be productive in some way. Even if you don’t like your job very much, its a much bigger mental burden to sit around and do nothing than it is to actually work.
You employer isn’t going to pay you the same rate for half as much work done. It is that way now cause they have no idea what the actual productivity will end up being, but once the numbers are stable they will save as much money as possible. You will either be lucky and will work just as much as before with more but worse output, or you will be fired.
It’s coming after your job. Why would I want to feed my output into the Machi breathing down the ba k of all our neck? I like what I do. A carpenter isn’t going to be happy working in a factory where chairs are made by robot arms. I’m not gonna be happy working in a slop factory
Standing in the Mississippi won’t dam it
If enough people do it will.
Every person on earth could jump in the mississippi and it would flow anyways.
it most definitely would not. you ever switched the direction of a lazy river? doesn’t take that many people. Your ignorance is showing.
I can’t use AI in my job, because I manufacture.
But the HR lady can use it to make policies that are fucking stupid and my direct boss can use it to create an app to more effectively micromanage us without having to actually do the micromanaging himself so he has free time to blow his boss and cook breakfast for 30min on the clock every day.
So yeah I’m not a fan.