Live data from Hacker News

Not everyone is using AI for everything

gabrielweinberg.com

351–360 of 565 posts

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#351
post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume it's because he is seeking to pay rent, food bills, and other expenses through employment.

A truthful, nuanced, well reasoned answer will be well received by an employer with a culture you want to work in.

> an employer with a culture you want to work in

A modern luxury, unavailable to many.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#352
post #82
post #72

On the post-grad job hunt right now - I note that most employers will ask in a technical interview or whiteboard interview "how are you using LLMs?" It's tough to answer because you want to hedge for both an AI enthused employer and an AI hesitant employer with limited information about who they are and how they personally use these products. I've been responding with a sort of long winded answer about how 'there is…

> It's tough to answer because you want to hedge for both an AI enthused employer and an AI hesitant employer with limited information about who they are and how they personally use these products. Have you considered just answering truthfully? Would you even want to work somewhere where you need to play a role and where they flip out when you say the wrong word you should've correctly guessed through mind reading? T…

You are playing a role at every job. In 20+ years I've never had a job where there would be no negative consequences for speaking truth to power

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. I did it anyway (and yes, it was awful).

That's fucked up. If those are your values, that's all well and good, but you can't expect someone else to make the same decision. Job interviews are a performance where you demonstrate you understand what professional expectations are and can abide by them. It's not dishonesty to not respond "I drink too much" when they ask "what's your biggest weakness?" just like it's not dishonesty to respond "can't complain" whe…

Having any kind of integrity is expensive, financially, emotionally and sometimes physically.

Software development is not that high-stakes of a job anyway. There is always another interview. I got another one soon enough, where the employee AI policy fully aligned with mine, so telling the truth was an easy, pleasant experience.

Imagine you are a pilot or doctor. Any kind of interview reply that doesn't fully align with your values now carries a real risk for human lives.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#354
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real best case scenario is using LLMs to help build deterministic systems. Instead of asking an LLM to do some task that you know will be repeated, instead ask the LLM to build a program (Python script or whatever) to do the task.

If it's a one-off script/program that doesn't require additional "domain knowledge", sure. But what if you need to give as context your whole backend repository because you need to take into account a few business rules? Why give anthropic/openai access to my "secret sauce" (e.g., company private repos)? In that case, it's way better to simply write the code yourself.

From all possible concerns, "giving access to anthropic/openai" to your "secret sauce" is the least important one for 99% of the companies out there.

No, is not way better to simply write the code yourself. Most of the code is written faster and better with Claude Code or equivalent. Very niche code is better written by hand. Even then, you're probably better off nudging something like Claude Code in the direction you need it to go. There's nothing interesting about writing it yourself unless you're still learning to code (in which case is a learning exercise for you, not only about the outcome).

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How far could you reduce this down? Do you only clap for malnourished Ethiopian babies that can't find waterthat grow up into full silicon Valley software engineers?

You can be dismissive all you want, but the point is to acknowledge you don’t understand everyone’s situation and you can’t make sweeping generalizations like “I did it and I can judge you if you _didn’t_ do it”.

Goes both way, yes.

History has examples of extremely underprivileged people not compromising on the values even when facing death or torture.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#356
post #72

On the post-grad job hunt right now - I note that most employers will ask in a technical interview or whiteboard interview "how are you using LLMs?" It's tough to answer because you want to hedge for both an AI enthused employer and an AI hesitant employer with limited information about who they are and how they personally use these products. I've been responding with a sort of long winded answer about how 'there is…

I think what would be great is to have eg a concise example where it works well for you and a concise example where it doesn’t. This shows you have explored it and thought about it enough to explain interesting observations. It’s good to then be ready to go deeper if of interest.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#357
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you considered just answering truthfully? ... That sounds not like a job but a toxic relationship. It's a job, not a relationship. It's best not to confuse the two. In any workplace, you will occasionally have to do things you find boring or objectionable. And if you're hoping to find a corporation that is a "perfect match", it will only hurt more when they unceremoniously fire you because the quarterly revenu…

Define objectionable? Not ethical is not illegal but maybe if you are okay with it, do it for yourself. Illegal is just dumb, you are still responsible. So at least, if you are doing, make sure you are appropriately compensated.

The parent was talking about giving a diplomatic answer about your attitude / use of AI. I'm not talking about Enron here.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you considered just answering truthfully? ... That sounds not like a job but a toxic relationship. It's a job, not a relationship. It's best not to confuse the two. In any workplace, you will occasionally have to do things you find boring or objectionable. And if you're hoping to find a corporation that is a "perfect match", it will only hurt more when they unceremoniously fire you because the quarterly revenu…

> It's a job, not a relationship. It's best not to confuse the two. A relationship is defined as two parties that interact. It's not friends, it's not romantic, and it's definitely not family, but a job _is_ a relationship. That said, GP is absolutely correct that you can fall into toxic relationships with your employer. Especially in the US where, realistically, we're forced to rely on our employer for too many thin…

You're being pedantic. By your standard, I also have a relationship with the DMV, and to avoid a "toxic relationship" (parent's language), I should be honest with them about all the times I rolled past a stop sign.

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely frontend (it's what I do, every day, and I enjoy it), but I have a great deal of experience (over 25 years), writing some pretty robust backend stuff. I just don't enjoy it as much.

I'm nowhere near that level of experience, although I've done both as well. I'm more backend oriented. And my experience has been the opposite. When I ask for backend code, footgun after footgun appears on my screen. With frontend code, much less of an issue, as far as I can tell. Part of me believes this is because I'm less skilled at frontend, and I don't bat an eye when the LLM plops down yet another useMemo (I've…

I wonder if it's expertise gives you ability to see flaws and push the LLM past its acceptable point.

I haven't really used LLMs much for coding (sabbatical before LLMs got good at coding, now looking for work) but I found with chats that they are great at exploring well trodden territory but as soon as you go a little bit off the beaten path they flail horribly

Re: Not everyone is using AI for everything

#360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume it's because he is seeking to pay rent, food bills, and other expenses through employment.

It's possible to work for an employer, and not have to compromise your values and or professional integrity. The attitude suggested by your response suggests you haven't lived that reality yet. Either way, I'd rather be rejected by an employer for speaking my truth, than lie to be somewhere I'd rather not be.

From far away, it's hard to tell the difference between integrity and anti sociality. Even though I believe "software engineering integrity" exists, you can see how it's hard to tell that apart from "software engineers who stir dramas or are annoying to work with."
Post reply on HN