"If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in"
I am happy to change my title from Software Engineer to AI Software Debugger if it means more money and prestige.
In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
51–60 of 63 posts
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
try https://github.com/OpenInterpreter/open-interpreter . sysadmining stuff just got a whole lot easier. I've been admining Linux systems for over two decades, but I give LLMs a shot at dealing with some stupid Unix shit so I don't have to. it won't get 100% of the problems, but I can ask it to fix the mess made of, say, my system SSL certificate authorities, and it won't judge me for saying SSL and not TLS and it'll…
I've had very mixed experience with LLMs (Perplexity) and sysadmin stuff. More often than not I ask questions for specific CLI invocations and it will literally just make stuff up. This is even after (supposedly) Googling the documentation and analyzing it. Even today I got terrible advice from Claude about calling Close() on a database in Golang. This kind of stuff would screw over a junior Dev who didn't know bette…
Except AI was correct this time.
"It is rare to Close a DB, as the DB handle is meant to be long-lived and shared between many goroutines."
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the enterprise stuff is programmers become more tool-assisted, so fewer programmers are needed. A team of two seniors and 6 juniors can just be two seniors. As you said, it's mostly breaking down a problem and knowing what's needed, then telling it what components are needed. 'Make me a function that does this and that' I use it all the time to make things I know I can make but it makes it, if it makes it a w…
> Operations and Sysadmins I don't forsee ever changing, especially with AI. Why not?
I've worked operations most of my working life, it's, well it's 'expect the unexpected' territory always, there's always stuff you can never be prepared for and have to really play with the cards you're handed and hope for miracles. Sysadmins find job security in knowing they can fix things right then and there but let them break so they can go fix them, I say that half jokingly, keyword on half.. I love sysadmins. But, sysadminning and trusting AI deployers with a focus on security and stability is a long time out, especially with needing people to ensure those systems stay operational.
When I say operations I don't mean devops, there's that too, but I mean the actual operations of an organization. The team leaders, go-getters, etc. Everybody has their niche.
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the enterprise stuff is programmers become more tool-assisted, so fewer programmers are needed. A team of two seniors and 6 juniors can just be two seniors. As you said, it's mostly breaking down a problem and knowing what's needed, then telling it what components are needed. 'Make me a function that does this and that' I use it all the time to make things I know I can make but it makes it, if it makes it a w…
I did see a take from someone (it may have been Alan Kay, but I could be misremembering) who said no one should layoff programmers due to AI. If AI makes programmers more productive, and everyone is getting it, they will need everyone to keep up with the competition. 2 seniors + AI may be able to have the same output at the 2 seniors + 6 juniors you mention. But if their competitors keep all those people and add AI,…
AI was absolutely not the basis for the layoffs at Intel, they are doing bad full stop. I don't know enough about IBM, but I strongly suspect that one is more influenced by macroeconomic conditions and general slowing down of the economy than anything else and AI is the convenient excuse to point to.
> If AI makes programmers more productive, and everyone is getting it, they will need everyone to keep up with the competition.
This assumes that there's competition. When money is expensive to borrow, companies stop throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, they start being more conservative with where they expend their capital. Efficiency will absolutely be the name of the game for 2-3 of the next 5 years. I don't really see AI being a huge part of it. Writing code doesn't take up the majority of my time as a senior engineer.
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#55I have yet to see a significant increase in productivity from AI. I wonder where they are extrapolating from?
Executives are the type of workers that have seen the increased productivity - it helps them write emails faster and summarize and digest long, mostly LLM-written, emails faster than before. Therefore, they think, it translates to everything else; writing code is just writing a foreign language for them, so, they figure, LLMs will do it, too.
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had very mixed experience with LLMs (Perplexity) and sysadmin stuff. More often than not I ask questions for specific CLI invocations and it will literally just make stuff up. This is even after (supposedly) Googling the documentation and analyzing it. Even today I got terrible advice from Claude about calling Close() on a database in Golang. This kind of stuff would screw over a junior Dev who didn't know bette…
Except AI was correct this time. "It is rare to Close a DB, as the DB handle is meant to be long-lived and shared between many goroutines." source: https://pkg.go.dev/database/sql#DB.Close
No. That was the reply after I corrected it, as in it originally told me to call Close after every *sql.DB handle.
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had very mixed experience with LLMs (Perplexity) and sysadmin stuff. More often than not I ask questions for specific CLI invocations and it will literally just make stuff up. This is even after (supposedly) Googling the documentation and analyzing it. Even today I got terrible advice from Claude about calling Close() on a database in Golang. This kind of stuff would screw over a junior Dev who didn't know bette…
Except AI was correct this time. "It is rare to Close a DB, as the DB handle is meant to be long-lived and shared between many goroutines." source: https://pkg.go.dev/database/sql#DB.Close
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Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#58I have yet to see a significant increase in productivity from AI. I wonder where they are extrapolating from?
Never underestimate the urge to be seen as a /thought leader/
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#59I have yet to see a significant increase in productivity from AI. I wonder where they are extrapolating from?
Executives are the type of workers that have seen the increased productivity - it helps them write emails faster and summarize and digest long, mostly LLM-written, emails faster than before. Therefore, they think, it translates to everything else; writing code is just writing a foreign language for them, so, they figure, LLMs will do it, too.
I assumed he would have been a programmer risen through the ranks but your comment made me question that - and it turns out he's a graduated manager type who's just done exec stuff.
Re: In a leaked recording, AWS CEO tells most developers could stop coding soon
#60In the last 100 years, software adoption went from non-existant to being used everywhere, so even through programmer productivity was increasing, we stil always needed more programmers. But maybe the growth of programmer productivity will be higher than the growth of software demand at some point?
If "programmer productivity" increases then I'll spend 90% of my time thinking and talking to domain experts instead of 80%. Being able to write executable software is not and never has been the problem. But, sure, if it ever becomes easy to write working software then you can expect programmer salaries to fall precipitously, at least to the level of nurses or any other occupation that requires training but essential…
Interesting, for me, it has been the opposite. You spend some time identifying the problem, meet with a few customers (if it's your own business) or have a chat with your employer. Once you get an idea of what is needed you get to work. I'd say 90% of the time is spent implementing for me.