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Re: AI.gov

#101

Post by KineticLensman »

aduffy wrote: post #25
empath-nirvana wrote: post #9

The US government can't legally pay the salaries required to find AI experts right now (just look at the salaries on the open positions). So all this work will end up being done by contractors who _can_ pay those salaries while the contractors skim off the top. The US really needs a special schedule for software developers if they want technical expertise in house (and they really should have technical expertise in h…

Recoding America[1] is an excellent book about this problem, but it extends a lot further than just contractors charging inflated rates. The government itself has a culture that is so averse to trying new things and compliance with existing policy that it's actually dangerous to the careers of civil servants to do anything innovative, because that is one of the only things they can actually be fired for. The solution…

> that approximates the British civil service, which is actually highly functional and effective

Not when it procuring large systems, IT or otherwise. As routinely discussed and complained about by the National Audit Office (NAO) [0]. The civil service relies massively on external consultants and contractors to achieve anything.

[0] https://www.nao.org.uk/

Re: AI.gov

#102

Post by dbish »

godelski wrote: post #24
empath-nirvana wrote: post #9

The US government can't legally pay the salaries required to find AI experts right now (just look at the salaries on the open positions). So all this work will end up being done by contractors who _can_ pay those salaries while the contractors skim off the top. The US really needs a special schedule for software developers if they want technical expertise in house (and they really should have technical expertise in h…

Some of the jobs go up to $180k/yr. That's not too bad considering it doesn't look like it requires DC location. But others like the grad assistant for $22/hr is laughable. Still, I agree there's a problem with salaries not being competitive. I've interned at DOE labs before and lots of people don't stay for long.

That’s not going to get good people unless they’re doing it to help.

Re: AI.gov

#103

Post by [deleted] »

BD103 wrote: post #90

Occasionally I enjoy viewing the HTML of websites to try to deduce what web framework they are using. I couldn't figure it out for this one, but here are some things that I find interesting: - On line 90 of the homepage, there is a single script called `document.createElement('main');` - The website uses the ` ` tag to support multiple sources for images - script.js on the website has ANSI art of the US flag ( https:…

[deleted]

Re: AI.gov

#104

Post by CobrastanJorji »

returningfory2 wrote: post #89
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2023-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.asp... No idea how reliable that site is, but it says Amazon.com sponsored 16,299, Amazon Web Services sponsored 5,056, and Amazon Development Center sponsored 2,119. So 23,474 in total. Edit: I see a note that this is APPLICATIONS, not grants. Nevermind, that's probably not accurate.

Those LCA applications aren’t 1-1 with H1B quota numbers. Eg after 3 years when renewing a H1B the employer needs to file an LCA but that won’t count against the cap. Similar for H1B transfers and renewals past 6 years. Overall the claim that Amazon takes 25 percent of H1Bs is extremely incorrect.

What percent do they take?

Re: AI.gov

#105

Post by paulddraper »

mazlix wrote: post #78
paulddraper wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> America's global brain drain might have been the single most effective strategy that the planet has seen so far... > The only question is if the rest of the world is going to wake up and counter this. Probably not. Simply put, there's no first-world country in the world where top talent can earn even close to a US salary, which largely due to the fact that US is relatively permissive towards large income disparitie…

> Simply put, there's no first-world country in the world where top talent can earn even close to a US salary, which largely due to the fact that US is relatively permissive towards large income disparities. Why do you think it's A -> B and not B -> A? What factors of the US being permissive towards large income disparities do other nations lack that prevent them from paying equivalent salaries. One specific thing I'…

> I wouldn't personally classify [at-will] as promoting income disparity though.

Of course it is.

Low-performers are fired from high-paid positions that high-performers keep. This translates performance disparities to income disparities.

> What factors of the US being permissive towards large income disparities do other nations lack that prevent them from paying equivalent salaries.

1. At-will employment

2. Employer-provided benefits

3. Smaller safety net

4. Lower taxes

5. Fewer business regulations

Re: AI.gov

#106

Post by ibejoeb »

dbish wrote: post #102
godelski wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the jobs go up to $180k/yr. That's not too bad considering it doesn't look like it requires DC location. But others like the grad assistant for $22/hr is laughable. Still, I agree there's a problem with salaries not being competitive. I've interned at DOE labs before and lots of people don't stay for long.

That’s not going to get good people unless they’re doing it to help.

With no intention to start a flame war: I don't see a future where affording a government the capability of SOTA AI is helping.

Re: AI.gov

#107

Post by nojito »

jjcm wrote: post #94

The Presidential Innovation Fellow is the highest level role they're offering as part of this. For this, the requirements are "mid-senior/executive career professional experience in a subject matter expertise" with "experience collaborating with and leading cross-functional teams". The requirements feel analogous to a staff/principal level role in the software industry, so just for comparison here's the compensation…

>I just don't see how they're going to be effective in doing this.

Why not?

That fellowship is extraordinarily competitive and is filled with former FAANG folks.

Re: AI.gov

#108

Post by EricE »

peanuty1 wrote: post #85
thatguysaguy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one else is really capable of making this technology at the level of the US, besides maybe China. Europe has the brainpower for sure, but they don't seem to be able to leverage it into actual innovation.

European technologists and engineers are hamstrung by EU regulations.

Good government are like good spices - a little bit can make a dish amazing, but too much utterly ruins it.

Re: AI.gov

#109

Post by 93po »

jjcm wrote: post #94

The Presidential Innovation Fellow is the highest level role they're offering as part of this. For this, the requirements are "mid-senior/executive career professional experience in a subject matter expertise" with "experience collaborating with and leading cross-functional teams". The requirements feel analogous to a staff/principal level role in the software industry, so just for comparison here's the compensation…

I assume they're targeting people who aren't competitive candidates for big high paying companies. There's plenty of super mediocre to bad developers out there (myself included) that would never stand a chance applying there. I've been developing software for a decade and the most I've ever made is $110k, and that was in high cost of living areas like Denver and Seattle.

Re: AI.gov

#110

Post by layer8 »

paulddraper wrote: post #66
tsunamifury wrote: post #31

So far the support of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Cisco/Akami have given the US government a business, intelligence, and social engineering platform the likes the world has never seen before, and still people today wildly undervalue its power in the world today. They have effectively deplatformed Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia, put anyone but China within second reach from a mass data coll…

> America's global brain drain might have been the single most effective strategy that the planet has seen so far... > The only question is if the rest of the world is going to wake up and counter this. Probably not. Simply put, there's no first-world country in the world where top talent can earn even close to a US salary, which largely due to the fact that US is relatively permissive towards large income disparitie…

At the same time, moving to the US is unattractive for a significant portion of the talent (not the least due to the US’ socio-cultural-political climate), and working remotely for a US company comes with its own difficulties.
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