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Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

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Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#71

Post by chrisseaton »

imtringued wrote: post #68
chrisseaton wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there were guest lectures by Microsoft employees Given that MS employs some seriously world-leading computer science academics, isn't this a great thing? I wish I got lectures from people like this!

What if you don't want to work at Microsoft or Microsoft doesn't want you? Then you've just wasted a lot of time.

I don't know if you're confused - it's not a job fair, they're collaborating on academics. And I presume they're academics giving lectures on academic topics, not just Microsoft-specific IT technology topics.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#72

Post by imtringued »

bregma wrote: post #28
the-dude wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhh, this has been happening for over 25 years now. One of the reasons is there are just too many students. How this came to be is another rabbithole though.

Too many students than can be supported in the educational commons from interested society. It is in the interest of society as a whole to have a better-educated population. That means support for individuals being educated must come from all members of society -- in other words, it's a government domain funded through taxes. Absent common support, the interests of specific groups, mostly corporate shareholders expec…

It is in the interest of "society" because a better educated population can pay more taxes than a non educated population. If you do not have increased job prospects after successfully going to university then you are actually a net negative to society because not only was your education expensive, it also took away 5 working years from you.

If a more educated population was better then we would keep accumulating more degrees until we die instead of working.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#73

Post by weRnotU »

readingnews wrote: post #18

As a professor in a computer science department at a state run university (that has one of the oldest CS departments in the nation), I actually am far more afraid of the book publishers than "big tech". They are going down the road of "who needs uni, just use our text, our online learning aids, our online _courses_"... With each new ad from the textbook publishing company, I see a push to have learners just use their…

I do not worry about the loss of social constructs like university per se.

To a large extent it’s a political institution, with outdated historical baubles forced upon it (administrative nightmare).

We’re at a hinge point in social evolution where perhaps a university is generally unnecessary.

Accurate information discovery, storage, and retrieval is what a university was built for conceptually.

It’s a matter of human history it is mired in old political speech and social construct. Not necessity to execute its purpose.

You have skills to teach people. Teach them. Dispose of the pretense of teaching “in politically normalized settings”.

Go teach. Really historically you’re teaching people who paid the political price. How free.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#74

Post by imtringued »

oblio wrote: post #62
the-dude wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, well, this might help to explain to said cohort that instead of having a vocational training, they should study to become an Ethical AI scientist. We should not forget their predicament is in their own making after all. It definitely sleeps better.

The bad news for your approach is that these people still have to be integrated in society, they don't just vanish upon graduating "Ethical AI".

Wasn't his suggestion that you should look for jobs that are actually in demand (someone still has to do physical labor) and don't necessarily require higher education?

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#75

Post by bregma »

imtringued wrote: post #72
bregma wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too many students than can be supported in the educational commons from interested society. It is in the interest of society as a whole to have a better-educated population. That means support for individuals being educated must come from all members of society -- in other words, it's a government domain funded through taxes. Absent common support, the interests of specific groups, mostly corporate shareholders expec…

It is in the interest of "society" because a better educated population can pay more taxes than a non educated population. If you do not have increased job prospects after successfully going to university then you are actually a net negative to society because not only was your education expensive, it also took away 5 working years from you. If a more educated population was better then we would keep accumulating mor…

Don't confuse value to society with taxes. Rich people are valuable and they pay no taxes so there is obviously a poor or no correlation.

Also, don't confuse a degree with education. Apprenticeships and technical training are also education.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#76

Post by oblio »

imtringued wrote: post #74
oblio wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bad news for your approach is that these people still have to be integrated in society, they don't just vanish upon graduating "Ethical AI".

Wasn't his suggestion that you should look for jobs that are actually in demand (someone still has to do physical labor) and don't necessarily require higher education?

Yeah, but you still need some qualifications for those. I don't think you can just apply for a welding position as J. Random, off the street.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#77

Post by mrlala »

greenkey wrote: post #44
asutekku wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I’m pretty happy that students use nowadays google docs. Sure, it’s propiertary and can break at any point, but man if it does not make collaboration easier.

So: total reliance on someone giving something away for free that could break or be taken away at any time and you have no privacy- that’s ok, even if they’re not going to hire you later?

What?

At any time, you can download your google docs data and have it locally. You can convert it to word/excel formats.

This makes anything you are trying to argue completely irrelevant.

If they basically forced you to keep your data in their proprietary format online-only, then maybe you have an argument.. but since this is not true you are grasping at straws here.

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#78

Post by vmception »

bluedino wrote: post #30
vmception wrote: post #7

This is the preferred way to fix the “pipeline problem” for more inclusion Recruit directly at a broader range of schools and make the curriculum more relevant Big Tech largely ignores Tier 2 and Tier 3 schools for on campus recruiting, while imagining that the intelligence community has better developers (which does recruit from tier 2 and tier 3 schools on campus) Since neither of them have figured out how to scree…

It would be a waste of time and money to recruit from ten lower ranking colleges for not so great students wouldn’t it? Even if they get like, one good one?

Then recruit from those colleges for great students

Am I reading elitist bs or can you elaborate?

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#79

Post by vmception »

kodoque2 wrote: post #50
vmception wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a pervasive view that they have scifi technology that someone had to program I think after various leaks that idea did evaporate a lot

Frankly the ANT catalog had some amazing stuff, but I think all the really cool tools are developed bespoke at small boutique company.

defense contractors recruit the same way as intelligence does

Re: Big Tech is getting cozy with computer science departments

#80

Post by kodoque2 »

vmception wrote: post #78
bluedino wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be a waste of time and money to recruit from ten lower ranking colleges for not so great students wouldn’t it? Even if they get like, one good one?

Then recruit from those colleges for great students Am I reading elitist bs or can you elaborate?

Yeah, I have no specific example in mind, but lot of time I stumble on insanely cool project and the guy that made it have a relatively modest education and was content working a simple dev jobs that allowed him to work on his hobby project in the first place.
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