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Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

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Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#301

Post by GeoAtreides »

dragon-hn wrote: post #245
GeoAtreides wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10 steps negotiating with obscure Pune team that I need to chase 10x why are you doing the chasing? unless you're the project manager, comment "blocked by obscure pune team" on the ticket and move on

This is an unfortunate attitude. The current state of things in our industry is a reflection of this “not my job” way of doing things.

We can call it job specialisation. I don't do project managing, I do coding. Not my business to coordinate everyone, my job is to write code.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#302

Post by GeoAtreides »

malfist wrote: post #201
GeoAtreides wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 10 steps negotiating with obscure Pune team that I need to chase 10x why are you doing the chasing? unless you're the project manager, comment "blocked by obscure pune team" on the ticket and move on

In my experience, PMs rarely do the chasing down for you. Most of them ask why you're still blocked and if you've done anything about it. Even if they do do something to chase them down, you're still on the hook for the deadlines.

so you're saying PMs are not doing their job? and then you have to do the actual project managing? not ideal for you, very cushy job for them.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#303

Post by energy123 »

jayd16 wrote: post #232
kkyr wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

The assumption is that they almost certainly did not have the sample size to justify two decimal places. If they want two decimals for aesthetics over properly honoring significant figures then it calls the scientific rigor into question.

But they say "26.08% increase (SE: 10.3%)", so they make it clear that there's a lot of uncertainty around that number.

They could have said "26% (rounded to 0 dp)" or something, but that conveys even less information about the amount of uncertainty than just saying what the standard error is.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#304

Post by WalterBright »

malfist wrote: post #269
WalterBright wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://mustreadalaska.com/labor-day-cautionary-tale-for-gig...

Leaving aside the relevance of an Alaskan newspaper talking about local Seattle politics, their only source is a news article from Seattle written the week of the law taking effect. As I said in my original comment, show me something that isn't from the first couple of weeks after it took effect. Preferably something scholarly, not just anecdotes from a newspaper

If you go to news.google.com, and type in "seattle gig worker law" and you'll find plenty of articles about it.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#305

Post by intelVISA »

trashtester wrote: post #144
ang_cire wrote: post #90

I sometimes wonder about whether the decline in IT worker quality is down to companies trying to force more and more roles onto each worker to reduce headcount. Developers, Operations, and Security used to be dedicated roles. Then we made DevOps and some businesses took that to mean they only needed 2/3 of the headcount, rather than integrating those teams. Then we made DevSecOps, and some businesses took that to mea…

They're realizing that 10x (+) developers exist, but think they can hire them at 1x developer salaries. Btw, they key skill you're leaving out, is to understand the business your company is in. If you can couple even moderate developer ability with a good understanding of business objectives, you may stay relevant even while some of the pure developers are replaced by AI.

> If you can couple even moderate developer ability with a good understanding of business objectives, you may stay relevant even while some of the pure developers are replaced by AI.

By 'stay relevant' you mean run your own? Ability to build + align to business objectives = $$$, no reason to be an Agile cog at that point.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#306

Post by intelVISA »

WalterBright wrote: post #193
yifanl wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're cutting headcount because they have no conception of how to make a good product, so reducing costs is the only of making the bottom line go up. That's across the board, from the startups whose business plan is to be acquired at all costs, to the giant tech companies, whose business plan is to get monopoly power first, then figure out how to extract money later.

> They're cutting headcount because they have no conception of how to make a good product, so reducing costs is the only of making the bottom line go up. The field is wide open for a startup to do it right. Why not start one?

The field is open(tm) as in under heavy regulatory capture, expecting the right school for VC funding, laden with competitors propped up by tax subsidiaries (if EU) and/or H1B farms (if US)... a tough time for even a moderate hustler.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#307

Post by XenophileJKO »

jcgrillo wrote: post #203
rongenre wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There needs to be a pattern for including AI-generated code, recording all the context which led to the generation.

Easy: exclude developers who try it. Learning--be it a new codebase, a new programming language, a new database--takes time. You're not going to be as productive until you learn how. That's fine! Cheating on your homework with an LLM should not be something we celebrate, though, because the learner will never become productive that way, and they won't understand the code they're submitting for review.

The truth is that the tools are actually quite good already. If you know what you are doing they will 10-20x your productivity.

Ultimately not adopting them will religate you to the same fate as assembly programmers. Sure there are place for it, but you won't be able to get near as much functionally done in the same amount of time and there won't be as much demand for it.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#308

Post by intelVISA »

GeoAtreides wrote: post #302
malfist wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, PMs rarely do the chasing down for you. Most of them ask why you're still blocked and if you've done anything about it. Even if they do do something to chase them down, you're still on the hook for the deadlines.

so you're saying PMs are not doing their job? and then you have to do the actual project managing? not ideal for you, very cushy job for them.

It's a popular grifter role for a reason.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#309

Post by XenophileJKO »

dartos wrote: post #82
neilv wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think that the quality of work (skill + conscientiousness), and the motivation for doing the work, are two separate things. Off-the-cuff, three groups: 1. There are people who are motivated by having a solid income, yet they take the professionalism seriously, and do skilled rock-solid work, 9-5. I'd be happy to work with these people. 2. There are other people who are motivated by having a solid or more-than…

I’m in group 3 for sure. The hardest part of any job I’ve had is doing the not so fun parts (meetings, keeping up with emails, solidly finishing work before moving on to something new)

As I progressed, I've learned I am more valuable for the company working on things I am interested in. Delegate the boring stuff to people that don't care. If it is critical to get it done right, do it yourself.

Re: Effects of Gen AI on High Skilled Work: Experiments with Software Developers

#310

Post by namaria »

nostrademons wrote: post #225
ang_cire wrote: post #90

I sometimes wonder about whether the decline in IT worker quality is down to companies trying to force more and more roles onto each worker to reduce headcount. Developers, Operations, and Security used to be dedicated roles. Then we made DevOps and some businesses took that to mean they only needed 2/3 of the headcount, rather than integrating those teams. Then we made DevSecOps, and some businesses took that to mea…

One person can do the work of 3 and regularly does in startups. I think that what the MBAs miss is this phenomena of overconstraint . Once you have separate the generic role of "developer" into "developer, operations, and security", you've likely specified all sorts of details about how those roles need to be done. When you combine them back into DevSecOps, all the details remain, and you have one person doing 3x the…

How does you explain the cyclical lay offs, if organizations aren't able to decrease in size?
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