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AI is making us work more

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Re: AI is making us work more

#101

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

everdrive wrote: post #37

I was never excited for automation. Automation doesn't mean we do less. It means that we do as much work, and now also the work has a higher complexity ceiling; you need to understand the systems that are being automated, and need to maintain the automation. More things are possible, but everything is more complex, and of course, you still need to work 40 hours a week. Products don't get better either, but that's mor…

As always, labor is a marketplace, and the supply side boils down to a) how much the next person else is willing to work (all else equal), and b) external forces (like overtime requirements kicking in at 40 hours).

Re: AI is making us work more

#102

Post by [deleted] »

everdrive wrote: post #37

I was never excited for automation. Automation doesn't mean we do less. It means that we do as much work, and now also the work has a higher complexity ceiling; you need to understand the systems that are being automated, and need to maintain the automation. More things are possible, but everything is more complex, and of course, you still need to work 40 hours a week. Products don't get better either, but that's mor…

[deleted]

Re: AI is making us work more

#103

Post by sojournerc »

bravetraveler wrote: post #100
sojournerc wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That works short-term. Long-term, expectations of productivity catch up, and you either deliver more or get laid off. It's a treadmill not a mountain.

Eh, it's worked well for a couple decades. Pointed effort beats toil, every time. Layoffs are like the tide, do you like the beach?

I thought the same... Then I got laid off. It can happen, not certain it will happen to you, and delivering quality certainly matters more than loc or stupid metrics. Glad you're in a good situation

Re: AI is making us work more

#104

Post by singron »

CaptainOfCoit wrote: post #33
iamleppert wrote: post #17

The absolute worst place to be right now is in a B tech startup. Not only do you need to build some kind of app or product, you also need to build some kind of AI feature into the product. The users don't want it and never asked for it. It sucks all the resources out of your actual product that you should be focusing on, doesn't actually work or works non deterministically, but you are held to the same standards if i…

> And the only lever you have to pull is a lengthy model re-training or fine tuning/development cycle. Is this really how professionals work on such a problem today? The times I'd had a tune the responses, we'd gather bad/good examples, chuck it into a .csv/directory, then create an automated pipeline to give us a percentage of success rate for what we expect, then start tuning the prompt, parameters for inference an…

It depends. Fine-tuning is a significant productivity drag over in-context learning, so you shouldn't attempt it lightly. If you are working on low-latency tasks or need lower marginal costs, then fine-tuning a small model might be the only way to achieve your goals.

Re: AI is making us work more

#105

Post by bravetraveler »

sojournerc wrote: post #103
bravetraveler wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, it's worked well for a couple decades. Pointed effort beats toil, every time. Layoffs are like the tide, do you like the beach?

I thought the same... Then I got laid off. It can happen, not certain it will happen to you, and delivering quality certainly matters more than loc or stupid metrics. Glad you're in a good situation

You say this as if I've never been laid off before. I have, because of acquisitions and even poor performance after the loss of a family member.

My point is this: it's going to happen anyway. I refuse to over-extend [any more] to stave the inevitable. I'm in a good spot because I have a solid network (contacts/skills) and reasonable savings.

I'm sure the employer would be mad to know I'm posting right now, I don't care. Their fault for allowing me to automate!

Re: AI is making us work more

#106

Post by Legend2440 »

burnte wrote: post #8
daymanstep wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you explain how AI is going to make energy, water, food, and shelter cheaper ?

My follow up would be, "if AI is doing so many 'menial' jobs, even if AI makes everything cheap, how will unemployed people afford anything?"

We've done this before, and it turned out great.

In the industrial revolution, tractors and machine looms and steam engines did all the old 'menial' jobs. We just invented new jobs that pay better with all the extra wealth created by automation. The middle class grew and quality of life skyrocketed.

It was arguably the best thing to ever happen to the world.

Re: AI is making us work more

#107

Post by gmadsen »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #96
microtonal wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it all hinges on recognizing what opportunities automation helps. For instance, I had to rename a collection of files almost following a pattern. I know that there are apps that do this and normally I’d reach for the Perl-based rename script. But I do it so irregularly that I have to install it every time, figure out how I can do a dry run first, etc. Meanwhile, with the Raycast AI integration that also suppo…

> For instance, I had to rename a collection of files almost following a pattern. I know that there are apps that do this and normally I’d reach for the Perl-based rename script. But I do it so irregularly that I have to install it every time, figure out how I can do a dry run first, etc. Meanwhile, with the Raycast AI integration that also supports Finder, I did it in the 10-15 seconds that it took to type the promp…

as part of the prompt, have a test suite with test files. Its still fully automated by the LLM but adds confidence

Re: AI is making us work more

#108

Post by sojournerc »

sojournerc wrote: post #103
bravetraveler wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, it's worked well for a couple decades. Pointed effort beats toil, every time. Layoffs are like the tide, do you like the beach?

I thought the same... Then I got laid off. It can happen, not certain it will happen to you, and delivering quality certainly matters more than loc or stupid metrics. Glad you're in a good situation

@bravetraveler You edited after I replied. Chill, we're not disagreeing

Re: AI is making us work more

#109

Post by saxenaabhi »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #96
microtonal wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it all hinges on recognizing what opportunities automation helps. For instance, I had to rename a collection of files almost following a pattern. I know that there are apps that do this and normally I’d reach for the Perl-based rename script. But I do it so irregularly that I have to install it every time, figure out how I can do a dry run first, etc. Meanwhile, with the Raycast AI integration that also suppo…

> For instance, I had to rename a collection of files almost following a pattern. I know that there are apps that do this and normally I’d reach for the Perl-based rename script. But I do it so irregularly that I have to install it every time, figure out how I can do a dry run first, etc. Meanwhile, with the Raycast AI integration that also supports Finder, I did it in the 10-15 seconds that it took to type the promp…

> See, these two things seem at odds to me. I suppose it is, to a degree, knowledge that you can learn over time: that an LLM is suitable for renaming files but not for certain other tasks. But for me, I'd be really cautious about letting an AI rename a collection of files, to the point that the same restrictions apply as would apply to a script: I'd need to create the prompt, verify the output via a dry run or test run, modify as necessary, and ultimately let the AI loose and hope for the best.

Why? I never understand this level of caution since don't we all use VC? Just feed it the prompt and if it messes up undo the changes.

Re: AI is making us work more

#110

Post by bravetraveler »

sojournerc wrote: post #108
sojournerc wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same... Then I got laid off. It can happen, not certain it will happen to you, and delivering quality certainly matters more than loc or stupid metrics. Glad you're in a good situation

@bravetraveler You edited after I replied. Chill, we're not disagreeing

Totally fair, my emphasis remains though: protect yourself, not your role/position. edit: enjoy the woodworking, you're there already :)
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