This may have been a terrible decision but I literally crashed out and quit my software engineering job. I have gotten so burnt out on AI garbage that I had to. I guess I'll see what comes next. Great piece.
Just yesterday I was crashing out because a software engineer I was talking to at a party was glazing AI, so this is an especially timely piece for me – thank you for writing this
Aw this is terrible to hear. I'm exactly where you were in 2013, just trying to become self taught at comp sci/software eng through online courses, completed CS50x, just want to skill up to get some middle class career and not become destitute... But the more pervasive AI gets, it feels like I'm wasting my time. Am I?
Most of the Anti-AI backlash I’ve seen comes from the petit-bourgeois class, not an organized proletariat. So I highly doubt a few more isolated acts of adventurism are going to change much, in all honesty. Unless the main goal is “save the American Middle Class” which has always been political window dressing.
If a revolution comes, it will simply demand the narrow horizon of returning to some apocryphal “pre-AI” capitalism in the aims of “protecting the middle class” (and with it, the class system). Or even worse, vague appeals to “humanity”. That is to say, the supposed purity of human labor within capitalist modes of production. “Human-made” is about to become the new lifestyle brand for brunch-politics liberals, if it hasn’t already.
I don’t see how that’s some sort of win. We’re not bourgeois humanists, are we?
Personally, I am glad that this is over. Sure, I think industry bets are directed at the potential of AI, not as it currently exists, but software engineering will never be the same. Already, the idea of manually writing the majority of an application seems an absurd waste of time.
Software has destroyed or radically altered so many industries, which gave meaning and income to so many people, only fitting that software eventually will eat itself.
For what it is worth, typing letters into a computer in the correct syntax and with the correct meaning, always was the worst part of programming and I certainly will not miss it. Where the limits of AI remains to be seen, but at least nobody will ever have to „code“ anymore.
A very sobering yet important way to kick off the shift in focus for your pieces (something I imagine readers will appreciate). My discord server with my friends used to be filled with aspiring coders & programmers who couldn’t be more optimistic about the future. Now, they’ve either leaned into the belligerent profit seeking of AI, or changed careers from the active demoralization being experienced by workers that you so personally & accurately described. It’s utterly maddening that this is being forced upon us against our will & unless we come together & organize against it, the belligerence will only escalate & the desperation will become impossible to contain. You & so many others should never have been forced to work under such absurd & inhumane conditions just so some ghoulish capitalists can rake in untold amounts in speculative investments & profits. The AI anger isn’t going away & wont be quieted anytime soon, & I greatly appreciate & respect you continuing to speak your mind & not allow for your voice to be silenced. You keep finding the right words for these often times difficult conversations, & I’ll continue to look forward to engaging with them.
This may have been a terrible decision but I literally crashed out and quit my software engineering job. I have gotten so burnt out on AI garbage that I had to. I guess I'll see what comes next. Great piece.
Just yesterday I was crashing out because a software engineer I was talking to at a party was glazing AI, so this is an especially timely piece for me – thank you for writing this
Beautifully written. Fuerza y amor
Aw this is terrible to hear. I'm exactly where you were in 2013, just trying to become self taught at comp sci/software eng through online courses, completed CS50x, just want to skill up to get some middle class career and not become destitute... But the more pervasive AI gets, it feels like I'm wasting my time. Am I?
Most of the Anti-AI backlash I’ve seen comes from the petit-bourgeois class, not an organized proletariat. So I highly doubt a few more isolated acts of adventurism are going to change much, in all honesty. Unless the main goal is “save the American Middle Class” which has always been political window dressing.
If a revolution comes, it will simply demand the narrow horizon of returning to some apocryphal “pre-AI” capitalism in the aims of “protecting the middle class” (and with it, the class system). Or even worse, vague appeals to “humanity”. That is to say, the supposed purity of human labor within capitalist modes of production. “Human-made” is about to become the new lifestyle brand for brunch-politics liberals, if it hasn’t already.
I don’t see how that’s some sort of win. We’re not bourgeois humanists, are we?
Personally, I am glad that this is over. Sure, I think industry bets are directed at the potential of AI, not as it currently exists, but software engineering will never be the same. Already, the idea of manually writing the majority of an application seems an absurd waste of time.
Software has destroyed or radically altered so many industries, which gave meaning and income to so many people, only fitting that software eventually will eat itself.
For what it is worth, typing letters into a computer in the correct syntax and with the correct meaning, always was the worst part of programming and I certainly will not miss it. Where the limits of AI remains to be seen, but at least nobody will ever have to „code“ anymore.
A very sobering yet important way to kick off the shift in focus for your pieces (something I imagine readers will appreciate). My discord server with my friends used to be filled with aspiring coders & programmers who couldn’t be more optimistic about the future. Now, they’ve either leaned into the belligerent profit seeking of AI, or changed careers from the active demoralization being experienced by workers that you so personally & accurately described. It’s utterly maddening that this is being forced upon us against our will & unless we come together & organize against it, the belligerence will only escalate & the desperation will become impossible to contain. You & so many others should never have been forced to work under such absurd & inhumane conditions just so some ghoulish capitalists can rake in untold amounts in speculative investments & profits. The AI anger isn’t going away & wont be quieted anytime soon, & I greatly appreciate & respect you continuing to speak your mind & not allow for your voice to be silenced. You keep finding the right words for these often times difficult conversations, & I’ll continue to look forward to engaging with them.