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xvector 4 hours ago

> But I also know that by using it I’m contributing to making my job redundant one day.

I don't see how this is the case if you're anything more than a junior engineer... it unlocks so many possibilities. You can do so much more now. We are more limited by our ideas at this point than anything else.

Why is the reaction of so many people, once their menial work gets automated, "oh no, my menial work is automated." Why is it not "sweet, now I can do bigger/better/more ambitious things?"

(You can go on about corporate culture as the cause, but I've worked at regular corporations and most of FAANG. Initiative is rewarded almost everywhere.)

> Does anybody really buy the BS that this will all make the world a better place one day?

Why is it BS? I'm shocked that anyone with a love and passion for technology can feel this way. Have you not seen the long history of automation and what it has brought humanity?

There is a reason that we aren't dying of dysentery at the ripe age of 45 on some peasant field after a hard winter day's worth of hard labor. The march of automation and technology has already "made the world a better place."

RivieraKid 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> I don't see how this is the case if you're anything more than a junior engineer... it unlocks so many possibilities.

I really don't understand this way of thinking. Don't you think that AI could replace senior engineers? Sure, companies will be able to do bigger / better / more ambitious stuff - but without any software engineers.

> Why is it BS? I'm shocked that anyone with a love and passion for technology can feel this way. Have you not seen the long history of automation and what it has brought humanity?

I definitely think that AI will be a net benefit for society but it could easily end up being be bad for me.

szatkus an hour ago | parent | next [-]

So far AI doesn't seem even close to replacing senior engieeners. Hell, it can't even replace junior engieeners entirely.

I use AI agents every day at work and I'm happy with that, but it took over two years and billions of dollars in investment to deliver anything useful (Claude Code et al). The current models are amazing, but they still randomly make mistakes that even a junior wouldn't make.

There's another paradigm shift to be made certainly, because currently it feels like we scaled up a bug brain to spit out code. It works great for some problems, but it's not what software developers usually do at work.

ej88 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

there doesnt seem to be a limit in terms of the ceiling of what companies can do with software, probably the most elastic demand out of any industry ever

the swe role is going to change but problem solving systems thinkers with initiative won't go away

GeoAtreides 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>Why is the reaction of so many people, once their menial work gets automated, "oh no, my menial work is automated." Why is it not "sweet, now I can do bigger/better/more ambitious things?"

because i have rent to pay? old age to prepare for?

why is it so hard to understand most people are not rich, that the cost of living is high, and that most people are VERY afraid their jobs will be automated away? why is so hard to understand that most people haven't worked at FAANG, they don't have stocks or savings, and are squeezed harder with every new day and every new war?

what world, what reality are you guys living in?!

xvector an hour ago | parent [-]

Because there is always work to do. It is true that demand will drop for those that don't take initiative and aren't sure what to do now that AI can do their repetitive tasks. However, demand will surge for those that can think critically about how to utilize AI to empower businesses.

"Software engineer" as a profession is rapidly getting automated at my company, and yet our SWEs are delivering more value than ever before. The layer of abstraction has changed, that is all.

> what world, what reality are you guys living in?!

One that has seen immense benefits from the Industrial Revolution and previous waves of automation.

GeoAtreides an hour ago | parent [-]

you might want to brush up on the short and medium consequences of the industrial revolution and the dark satanic mills where children were maimed or where people worked for 12h a day in horrendous conditions.

Do you think because 2 dev are now super productive with AI, the company will keep the other average 30 devs? no, of course not, they will fire and pocket the difference. Same for other industries, where AI will slowly diffuse like a poisonous gas and displace jobs and people, leaving behind a crippled white collar class. The profits will not trickle down and the increased productivity will be a hatchet, not a plough.

senordevnyc an hour ago | parent [-]

where children were maimed or where people worked for 12h a day in horrendous conditions

Such things were super uncommon before the industrial revolution, I'm sure.

delbronski 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

And I’m shocked that anyone into tech can be so blind to the adverse effects the current tech industry is having on our world and our society.

We owe it to the world, as the experts, to be critical. The march of automation and technology has made the world a better place in some ways. I sure love modern medicine, but those drones flying over Ukraine and Russia sure don’t seem like they are making the world a better place. Nuclear bombs are not making the work a better place. Misinformation in social media is not making the world a better place.

Any belief you drink blindly will eventually find a way to harm you.

xvector 4 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

delbronski 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Oh yeah, no you are right. Sorry for focusing on that little part of space and time where I and everyone I know and love is alive and being affected by our decisions. How dumb of me!

solenoid0937 3 hours ago | parent [-]

It actually is genuinely wrong to prioritize your little bit of space and time over the needs of the species as a whole and the benefit of untold future billions.

If everyone thought like you we'd be stuck in the pre-Industrial phase. How miserable that would be!

miltonlost 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Keep marching that automation and tehcnology to an acidified ocean. But hey, at least now we can code faster than we can review!

solenoid0937 4 hours ago | parent [-]

AI won't be what acidifies our ocean, but AGI might save us from it.

Strangely enough, I don't see you calling to end the consumption of meat which would have a far larger environmental impact while not slowing global progress at all.

palata 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> AI won't be what acidifies our ocean

Tech is what got us where we are. AI allows us to use more energy to produce more of what is currently measurably killing us.

> but AGI might save us from it.

This is just faith. Some believe that prayers may save us.

solenoid0937 3 hours ago | parent [-]

"AI energy usage" is a convenient scapegoat not backed by data.

Many things are orders of magnitude bigger than AI in the energy usage problem that bring less comparable value.

remich a minute ago | parent [-]

I'm starting to get to the point where I'll only listen to AI energy use critiques if the commentator tells me up front they abstain from all forms of social media, especially video-based social media, first.

palata 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> There is a reason that we aren't dying of dysentery at the ripe age of 45 on some peasant field after a hard winter day's worth of hard labor.

Tell that to the people who will die before 45 because of global instability and global warming, I guess?