HN user
Well ... bumped up my Claude subscription from Pro to Max and closed out my OpenAI accounts. It's a drop in the ocean but I'll sleep better knowing I did the right thing. Thanks ChatGPT! It was good knowing you.
Yes but is AI really getting you unstuck or are you playing a game of whack-a-mole where it fixes one bug and generates several others that you are unaware off (just one example)?
Fair point. But are we moving even further away from determinism with the current ways of working with AI?
But ... but ... your productivity as an engineer shoots up! You can take on more tasks and ship more! -- Dumbass Engineering Director who has never written a line of code in their life.
Unfortunately, with these types of software simpleton's making decisions we are going to see way more push for AI usage and thus higher productivity expectations. They cannot wrap their heads around the fact (for starters) that AI is not deterministic so that increases the overhead on testing, security, requirements, integrations etc. making all those productivity gains evaporate. Worse (like the author mentioned), it makes your engineer less creative and more burnt-out.
Let's be honest here. Engineers picked this career broadly for 2 reasons, creativity and money. With AI, the creativity aspect is taken away and you are now more of a tester. As for money, those same dumbass decision makers are now going to view this skillset as a commodity and find people who can easily be trained in to "AI Engineers" for way less money to feed inputs.
I am all for technological evolution and welcome it but this isn't anything like that. It is purely based on profits, shareholders and any but building good, proper software systems. Quality be damned. Profession of Software Development be damned. We will regret it in the future.
Explain?
Well said! I wonder if it is like this in the mechanical / electrical engineering space or if the Math n Physics is scary enough to keep the riff-raff out. We've made it too easy for the non-engineering folks and now they're getting involved and disrupting our flow of work. Just like the author (a psych major who's never written a line of production code in life).
The nerve of that product guy!
I’ve always been vocal about this ... engineers are at the core of our business because they build and ship. Everyone else, myself included as an engineering manager exists to support them in doing exactly that. We don’t create value by holding meetings, drafting roadmaps, or removing blockers ... those are simply the means to an end. We create value when a product is built and shipped. It really is that simple.
The writing gives the impression of someone speaking about hands-on technical work without a clear understanding of what that actually entails. After reviewing the author’s public LinkedIn profile, it appears their background may be more aligned with product and process management than with hands-on engineering, which could explain the disconnect.
Spot on!
"The fact that the US population elected him a second time means that the US as a whole can't be trusted to behave like rational adults."
This! I mean think about it for a second. That is around 80 million voters.
Trump or no Trump, our country isn't the cool kid on the block anymore.
"We've had bathroom scales for over a century, yet as a society, we are more obese than ever."
Exactly! Couple decades ago they blamed human stupidity on lack of information. Look at us now with all the data available at our fingertips. We are so well informed that we should be better humans but we aren't.
Coming back to the Apple Watch (and alternatives) perhaps what we need along with all these "insights" are a shock collar (yes, like the one for a dog) that serves as a motivation to get off one's ass and get in to better shape. I'll bet that'll sell like hotcakes /s
OK, so it's not that hard but try and follow along.
Did the employees say they have the data to prove it?
No!
Did mgmt. say it?
Yes!
So let's ask mgmt. first to disclose said data.
Got it?
JFC! People will say anything. LOL!
Awesome! I am about halfway (~25 years) in and all I needed so far was C#/SQL Server/VS etc. Do you think I can get away for another 15 years?
"You’ll soon find that doing your hobby for a living cools your enthusiasm for your hobby"
So well put!
You, Sir, have an amazing way with words. Thank you for sharing your experiences. If it ever comes to a 3rd act for you, do consider a career in writing / blogging especially to share those stories you had the luxury to live through.
Such a gem of a post with bubbling curiosity!!
Excellent advice!
I'd say she dodged a bullet. Hope this psycho never has any offspring. The world has enough of them already.
What say Hacker News, would you hire Cletus?
100% this! Calling one's colleague an NPC is not only demeaning but also shows a lack of awareness and empathy. Does the author even understand that by his logic, he is a NPC in his colleague's world?
The author has two choices: 1. Learn to enjoy the freedom gained from his wealth and not work another day. 2. Give away ALL of it to charity and start over again so he can prove to himself and the world that it wasn't luck that made him wealthy.
Rest is all noise.
Who said anything about infinite time? What the poster (you're responding to) meant was due to the nature of our profession's leniency about tech debt and "go go go" push from non-tech (PM, SM etc.) it's always lesser time than needed.
... and Cloud! Don't forget The Klaaooud ...
This is exactly what we're talking about here and you are proving our point.
Well said! Have you seen the titles and summary of those LinkedIn profiles? Not an ounce of humility. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse with "AI".
No, it's not crazy at all. Back in the early noughts everyone was associating themselves with Internet and WorldWideWeb (yes, they used to spell that out). Same thing happening today with AI. It is irritating ...
LOL! A butcher cuts meat and so does a surgeon. Who would you prefer to operate on you?
Sigh! 105K managers currently and with the 14K cuts it will still be around 91K. As a manager myself, I fully understand and appreciate the value they bring but not matter how large your workforce having 90K+ managers is insanity. Hopefully they are focussing on the middle management and not first-line managers.
Sigh! 105K managers currently and with the 14K cuts it will still be around 91K. As a manager myself, I fully understand and appreciate the value they bring but not matter how large your workforce having 90K+ managers is insanity. Hopefully they are focussing on the middle management and not first-line managers.