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What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

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Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Talking about AI is cheap. AI is about to get a lot more expensive as Taiwan (TSMC) and other South East Asian chip manufacturers don't get their Natural Gas or the Natural Gas they need becomes really expensive.

>AI is about to get a lot more expensive as Taiwan (TSMC) and other South East Asian chip manufacturers don't get their Natural Gas or the Natural Gas they need becomes really expensive. Also, before the war Trump got GCC countries to promise they will invest $ 2 billion into AI. Now those money will probably not come anymore. Also, the power will get more expensive, so running AI data centers will be more expensive.

Not sure about GCC countries not paying. Vassals don't really get a say in anything. As for oil and gas deliveries, that is where "force majeure" can be activated.

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And by definition most developers don’t work at “elite” companies. I hope you don’t call your average FAANG and adjacent “elite”. And if you think that is normal, it’s honestly kind of sad.

I've worked at FAANG, yes, as well as one of the top two frontier AI labs, quant, and now, in a similar role doing very technical research. Do you not think it's considered "elite" to e.g. work at such companies in highly technical roles in the same way that a PhD at Stanford is considered "elite"? As a holder of the latter, I do. If not, what would you consider an "elite" team? Maybe you think the statement was pret…

Yes I’ve worked at FAANG and the average mid level or even senior developer is not that impressive. Anyone with time on their hands and a decent proficiency can grind enough leetCode to get in.

Not that I did personally, I came in in the internal cloud consulting division (yes a full time blue badge, RSU earning employee).

You know then while all developers have to work at scale. Most of the work is built on pre-existing scalable components.

There are 1 million developers+ possibly if you count all of the FAANG + adjacent developers. I’ve nope a few of them during interviews after I left because I knew they couldn’t handle not being coddled by BigTech and wouldn’t know what to do with ambiguous requirements , an empty AWS account (even if they worked at AWS) and empty git repo.

But back to the point, they very much treated their job as a just a way to earn money and RSUs. They would have been a fool to treat a company as toxic as Amazon as anything else.

Yes I knew what I was getting into going in. I was a 46 and it was my 8th job out of college. I made my money, made connections, put it on my resume and moved on

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#403
post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, not VAT - but the value of the benefit you gain from working on your own property (presumably also if you're, say, a car mechanic and work on your own car, etc.) is subject to taxation. Mea culpa. The obligation to pay tax only kicks in (as far as I can tell, IANAL) if the work is substantial and of a nature which requires professional skills. Here's a recent link, though in Norwegian, I'm afraid: https://www.…

Jesus! Spinning this forward, this means: If I'm a professional wealth manager and I manage my own wealth during working hours (because office not busy right now), then I would have to pay taxes because I'm a finance pro applying my own skills on my own stock portfolio?

Presumably, yes.

IANAL, and I have only heard about a couple of cases where people have been taxed under this statute - typically carpenters having built or renovated their own homes or cottages.

(Their obvious disadvantage being, of course, that the result of their labour is very tangible - and that whenever you do any significant building work, you'll need permits and documentation afterwards, making it difficult to discreetly renovate something off the books...)

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward to seeing your company actually producing and selling food for “next to nothing”, given how easy it apparently is

We can produce enough food for everyone on earth to eat, and as more automation sets in, labor costs will decline. We are already at artificial scarcity - other than political animus rooted in racism and toil is moral there’s no reason for anyone anywhere to starve. This trend won’t reverse, but will become increasingly perverse. For example, in my neck of the woods there’s the company Carbon Robotics, which is prett…

I agree, we can - and should - produce enough food for everyone on earth to be happy and healthy.

But nobody is saying "people shouldn't eat for free, therefore I won't grow crops."

You said it yourself: farms are left fallow because the revenue doesn't justify the cost for the farmer. That, my friend, is basic economics, not artificial scarcity.

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worked at FAANG, yes, as well as one of the top two frontier AI labs, quant, and now, in a similar role doing very technical research. Do you not think it's considered "elite" to e.g. work at such companies in highly technical roles in the same way that a PhD at Stanford is considered "elite"? As a holder of the latter, I do. If not, what would you consider an "elite" team? Maybe you think the statement was pret…

Yes I’ve worked at FAANG and the average mid level or even senior developer is not that impressive. Anyone with time on their hands and a decent proficiency can grind enough leetCode to get in. Not that I did personally, I came in in the internal cloud consulting division (yes a full time blue badge, RSU earning employee). You know then while all developers have to work at scale. Most of the work is built on pre-exis…

I'll ask again: what do you consider elite employment in tech?

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I’ve worked at FAANG and the average mid level or even senior developer is not that impressive. Anyone with time on their hands and a decent proficiency can grind enough leetCode to get in. Not that I did personally, I came in in the internal cloud consulting division (yes a full time blue badge, RSU earning employee). You know then while all developers have to work at scale. Most of the work is built on pre-exis…

I'll ask again: what do you consider elite employment in tech?

These days? Quant, AI employees who have 2 commas in their yearly salaries, etc.

It’s not random mid level developer at a FAANG who “grinded leetCode” or even a senior developer who memorized “Designing Data Intensive Applications”.

You really didn’t think I was some 22 year old posting on r/cscareerquestions who was mesmerized by people “working at a FAANG” did you? For me it was just my 8th job out of now 10 and just another way to exchange labor for money.

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#407
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In ERP software there are MLOCs without any technical documentation. And nobody would spend a dime to create one. So, the deep expert knowledge on how business processes are supposed to work (in full detail) and how they are implemented is mostly in the heads of a couple of people.

AI is most excellent at reading and understanding large codebases and, with some guidance docs, can easily reproduce accurate technical documentation. Divide and conquer.

Reading a large codebase...perhaps if it is not too large. Understanding... why a tool exists, what is the motivation for its design, what the external human systems requirements for successful utilization of the internal facing tools... especially when that knowledge exists only in the memories of a few developers and PMs... not so much. Deep domain expertise is a long way from AI capability for effective replacement.

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#408
post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jesus! Spinning this forward, this means: If I'm a professional wealth manager and I manage my own wealth during working hours (because office not busy right now), then I would have to pay taxes because I'm a finance pro applying my own skills on my own stock portfolio?

Presumably, yes. IANAL, and I have only heard about a couple of cases where people have been taxed under this statute - typically carpenters having built or renovated their own homes or cottages. (Their obvious disadvantage being, of course, that the result of their labour is very tangible - and that whenever you do any significant building work, you'll need permits and documentation afterwards, making it difficult t…

I have seen very wierd tax laws in other EU countries, but this is really "fresh": In that case I would somehow try to do it without someone noticing (so treat your neighbours well :-D) - this is similar to collect taxes on food that Ive grown on my balcony

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the upside they'll all generationally churn out of life, acting as a forcing function on future decisions. Time isn't linear. No guarantees we march right along handing batons to the next age group. Which generation will be future elites making the choices come from? Millennials and GenZ (despite a blip towards Trump in 2024, they blipped hard away from him as his policies of 2025 hit them hardest) are trending pr…

I don't know about this analysis? Number one, Trump won the presidency on the strength of his support from younger generations of Americans. It remains to be seen whether or not those younger generations will turn against Trumpism. Number two, GenX. Not only is GenX is the generation that voted against Trumpism the most statistically speaking, they are also the smallest generation. ie - the least statistically releva…

Polls of the last few weeks I have seen say the opposite.

Trumps pull with GenZ vanished through 2025 as his policies did nothing to help them. 2024 was a blip. Now they are at risk of being drafted into war and otherwise the drag on the economy.

GenX is career stable middle management. The most skin in the current economy game. Their support for Trump stayed stable while every other generation's support tanked.

GenZ support in 2024 was short-term 20-something "free from parents" blip. They ended up bag holders through 2025 and corrected course.

Re: What young workers are doing to AI-proof themselves

#410
post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably, yes. IANAL, and I have only heard about a couple of cases where people have been taxed under this statute - typically carpenters having built or renovated their own homes or cottages. (Their obvious disadvantage being, of course, that the result of their labour is very tangible - and that whenever you do any significant building work, you'll need permits and documentation afterwards, making it difficult t…

I have seen very wierd tax laws in other EU countries, but this is really "fresh": In that case I would somehow try to do it without someone noticing (so treat your neighbours well :-D) - this is similar to collect taxes on food that Ive grown on my balcony

I read the Norwegian article that was linked, and it isn't actually similar: you would only have to pay taxes on food you've grown on your balcony (and mean to consume yourself) if you are a farmer, are growing it during regular working hours, and have an insanely huge balcony.

Another thing that makes home construction a bit different in this regard is that you could claim to build a house for yourself, live in it for a bit, and then sell it on a couple of years later. That'd be an easy way to avoid or evade taxes. Not so easy with lettuce -- once you've eaten it, you've eaten it.

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