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Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

defragzone.substack.com

671–680 of 886 posts

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#671

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A no code solution at its most basic level is nothing more or less than a compiler. You wouldn’t argue that writing in a high level language doesn’t let you produce arbitrary code because the compiler is just spitting out presets its author prepared for you. There are 2 main differences between using an LLM to build an app for you and using a no code solution with a visual language. 1. The source code is English (whi…

I just outright disagree. What this Vibe Coding is a substitute for is to finding a random dev on Fiverr, which inherently suffers from your "1 and 2". And I'd argue that vibe coding already offers you more bang for your buck than the median dev on Fiverr.

Low code/no code solutions were already a substitute for finding a random dev on Fiverr, which was almost always a terrible way to solve almost any problem.

The median dev on Fiverr is so awful that almost anything is more bang for your buck.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#672
post #521

What are these fired programmers going to do? Disappear? They’ll build stuff, using the same plus-up AI tooling that enabled their old boss to fire them. So guess what, their old boss just traded employees for competitors. Congrats, I guess? Zuck declaring that he plans on dropping programmer head-count substantially, to me indicates that they’ll have a much smaller technological moat in the future, and they won’t be…

What moat did Meta have today? I'd say there is a moat, but it's not on the tech side. Tiktok flew right through the moat, and only a small part of that is about tech. A lot of development on AI is exciting and meta is a big part of that, but there isn't any real moat there either.

I fear we are about to see refreshed patent trolling conflicts regarding software designs, as it's all in the IP these days, which is the "moat" you are looking for.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#673
post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love that you brought no-code tools into this because I think it's interesting it never worked correctly. My guess is: on one side, things like squarespace and wix get super super good for building sites that don't feel like squarespace and wix, (I'm not sure I'd want to be a pure "website dev" right now - although I think squarespace squashed a lot of that long ago) - and then very very nice tooling for "real engi…

Excel is a "no-code" system and people seem to like it. Of course, sometimes it tampers with your data in horrifying ways because something you entered (or imported into the system from elsewhere) just happened to look kinda like a date, even though it was intended to be something completely different. So there's that.

I would disagree. Every formula you enter into a cell is "code". Moreover, more complex worksheets require VBA.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#674

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why wouldn't this be the case for people using LLM like it was for everyone else? I feel like it's a bit different this time because LLMs aren't just an abstraction. To make an analogy: Ruby on Rails serves a similar role as highways—it's a quick path to get where you're going, but once you learn the major highways in a metro area you can very easily break out and explore and learn the surface streets. LLMs are a G…

> LLMs are a GPS, not a highway. They tell you what to do and where to go It still gives you code you can inspect. There is no black box. Curious people will continue being curious.

The code you can inspect is analogous to directions on a map. Some have noted in this thread that for them directions on a map actually do help them learn the territory. I have found that they absolutely do not help me.

That's not for lack of curiosity, it seems to be something about the way that I'm wired that making decisions about where to navigate helps me to learn in a way that following someone else's decisions does not.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#675
Tech debt is hard enough when written by the person sitting next to you or no longer at the company

It will be impossible to maintain when it’s churned out by endless AI

I can’t imagine being a manager tasked with “our banking system lost 30 million dollars can you find the bug” when the code was written by AI and some intern maintains it

I’ll be watching with popcorn

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#677

Tech debt is hard enough when written by the person sitting next to you or no longer at the company It will be impossible to maintain when it’s churned out by endless AI I can’t imagine being a manager tasked with “our banking system lost 30 million dollars can you find the bug” when the code was written by AI and some intern maintains it I’ll be watching with popcorn

I agree. Unfortunately Tesla cannot be held accountable for autopilot crash and OpenAI cannot be held accountable for bugs caused by Copilot code. But that's where we're (forced to be) headed as a society.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#678
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zuckerberg, as always, is well known for making excellent business decisions that lead to greater sector buy in. The Metaverse is going great.

Really, that's what you're going with, arguing against the business acumen of the world's second richest person, and the only one at that scale with individual majority control over their company? As for the Metaverse, it was always intended as a very long-term play which is very early to be judged, but as an owner of a Quest headset, it's already going great for me.

Meta's success for the past 10 years had more to do with Cheryl Sandburg and building a culture that chases revenue metrics than whatever side project Zuckerberg is doing. He also misunderstands the product they do have. He said he didn't see TikTok as a competitor because they "aren't social," but Meta's products have been attention products, not social products, for a long time now.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#679

When the AI dust settles, I wonder who will be left standing among the groups of developers, testers, scrum masters, project leaders, department managers, compliance officers, and all the other roles in IT. It seems the general sentiment is that developers are in danger of being replaced entirely. I may be biased, but it seems not to be the most likely outcome in the long term. I can't imagine how such companies will…

> I can't imagine how such companies will be competitive against developers who replace their boss with an AI.

Me neither, but I think it'll be a gratifying fight to watch.

Re: Firing programmers for AI is a mistake

#680

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not like it's going to happen for me, but how did you reach such comp. I'm a simple man. If I hit 2 million in net worth I'm done working. I don't plan on having a family, so I'm just supporting myself. If I really made a ton of money I'd fund interesting open source games. Godot is the most popular open source game engine, and they're making it happen off just 40k a month. I'm a bit surprised Microsoft hasn't filled…

Worked in HFT. But tbh everyone I know in FAANG who stuck it out is doing even better.

I've actually worked in finance for a bit, but I'm also content with where I'm at.

I don't this have a realistic chance at HFT though. Doesn't stop me from applying and dreaming...

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