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Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

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Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#541

Post by e40 »

aylmao wrote: post #510
siraris wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I worked for a year and a half at an AI startup that was way ahead of the curve on leveraging LLM's and other generative models. Like way ahead. I lost my job there months ago, but I can tell you that the AI psychosis is real and I watched it before a lot of the rest of the world. Maybe the CEO was always like this, but he went from being a likable, and liked person, to a fucking maniac. Multiple people who had wo…

> Maybe the CEO was always like this, but he went from being a likable, and liked person, to a fucking maniac. I might not know him, but I don't think he changed. I think the circumstances changed and they happened to lead to another expression of who he is. IMO the "AI psicosis" is just the latest expression of the hyper-capitalist ideology that has taken over Silicon Valley (and the USA). Engineering at these compa…

I agree, people don’t change, the circumstances change to expose their true self.

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#542

Post by iamacyborg »

ralferoo wrote: post #537
iamacyborg wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps have an address API some companies use when filling out addresses for shipments. Despite my building existing for over 10 years, putting in “flat number, building name” into that system will be rewritten to “house number, building name road” which is an address on a he other side of town (and London ain’t exactly small). I’ve had multiple orders go missing as a result.

This is why we have postcodes. More concretely, a postcode is usually specific to between 7 and 30 dwellings, in the usual case it's about 15 houses. Contrary to common belief, they're not always on the same street, but in the vast majority of cases (like maybe 99%) house number + postcode is sufficient. Definitely flat number + building name/number + postcode should get your stuff there.

Yeah, the google maps address thing just overwrites my post code, and some senders in the US don’t appear to pay attention to that.

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#544

Post by 21asdffdsa12 »

da_chicken wrote: post #388
JacobAsmuth wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd say that Google Maps hasn't improved much in the last 20 years?

My best friend bought a house. She noticed within the first month that the name of the road she lived on was misspelled in Google Maps. Specifically, it's a slightly unusual spelling of the road name. Like "Chickorie" vs "Chickory". It's particularly annoying because there's a road the next town over with the traditional spelling. It doesn't even share address numbers, but Google Maps still frequently misdirects peop…

The trick is use the right keywords. "Dear Sir and Madam of google, im writing you to inform you, about a possible liability your software opens itself up to, by referencing emergency vehicles to the wrong road. Example:

Regards"

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#545

Post by 21asdffdsa12 »

consp wrote: post #507
dmurray wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the neighbourhood names in my large European city were like this on Google Maps. Either old names or hyperspecific landmark/street names that I had never heard being used as synecdoche for the area. This was definitely true 4-5 years ago. I looked now and it's mostly better at most levels of zoom.

Google maps uses suggestive names (e.g. a park walkway given a name by the municipality) as official road names, and when it does that it marked it as a cycling path. Both are invalid and cycling on them is illegal. This has been going on for years.

It redirects cars on foot/bikepaths near rivers, with the danger of sliding in.

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#546

Post by 21asdffdsa12 »

asdff wrote: post #360
JacobAsmuth wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd say that Google Maps hasn't improved much in the last 20 years?

It is still drawing bike lane networks in cemeteries and random bits of grass and pavement. So no. The way I see it is is actually worse than it was in 2006. When I opened it today it asked me if I would like to see Dua Lipa's recommended restaurants.

Sir, this is Dua Lipas favorites Wendys - do not cause a promotion commotion, not again Sir!

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#547

Post by ablation »

desolate_muffin wrote: post #331
fabian2k wrote: post #4

> 30-50% of engineers on core teams have been forcefully reassigned to data labeling and RLHF, upsetting folks even more. This really doesn't sound believable to me, but who knows with all the craziness going on. Software developers in the US are seriously expensive, using them for data labeling would be a waste of resources. And the percentage sounds very high, unless "core teams" is only a small subset of the total…

My partner works there as an engineer. The org they work in had loads of people transferred to the "AAI" org doing data labelling. I find it almost unbelievable as well, but it is true.

This is starting to feel like a Peter Watts short story.

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#548

Post by brainzap »

nitwit005 wrote: post #119
pavel_lishin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I've learned over my career is that engineering seems to matter so little to a business's success. As long as the engineering problems and failures aren't so bad that the salesfolks will get crucified in the town square and convince customers to leave, then seemingly everything can eventually be duct-taped over. Obviously this isn't as true for things where it truly matters - encryption software, financial…

It's usually just that the core product was built a long time ago, and that's 95% of what customers want. There's always the option of getting rid of all the engineers working on new stuff, and having a small support staff. Often times, customers would even prefer that.

spotify should do this

Re: Is Meta destroying its engineering organization?

#550

Post by tsukikage »

klipklop wrote: post #282
klipklop wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my manager has no idea who I am, nor what I’m working on, and I’ve never met them despite me being on the team for nearly two months. This is the fast track to being next in a round of layoffs. If your manager does not know you, they won’t vouch for you when it comes time to toss people out of the airlock. You are in a vulnerable position.

Looks like the Facebook employee got scared. They always keep quiet…

The job contracts include clauses about not posting things that paint the employer in a bad light on social media. No idea how enforceable that stuff is in any given jurisdiction, but really, what individual can afford to find out?
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