Re:Ask HN: SWEs how do you future-proof your career in light...
by latentsea on Tuesday December 17, 2024 @05:56AM
(#42440303)
More or less. I'm just going to enjoy the ride of what becomes of the industry until I either retire or just go do something else with my life.
I already had my panic moment about this like 2 years ago and have calmed down since then. I feel a lot more at peace than I did when I was thinking AGI was right around the corner and trying to plan for a future where no matter what course of action I took to learn new skills to outpace the AI I was already too late with my pivot because the AI would also become capable at doing whatever I was deciding to switch to on a shorter timeline than It would take me to become proficient in it.
If you at all imagine a world where the need for human software engineers legit goes away, then there isn't likely much for you to do in that world anyway. Maybe except become a plumber.
I don't think AGI is this magic silver bullet Silicon Valley thinks it is. I think, like everything in engineering, it's a trade-off, and I think it comes with a very unpalatable caveat. How do you learn once you've run out of data? By making mistakes. End of the day I think it's in the same boat as us, only at least we can be held accountable.
I already had my panic moment about this like 2 years ago and have calmed down since then. I feel a lot more at peace than I did when I was thinking AGI was right around the corner and trying to plan for a future where no matter what course of action I took to learn new skills to outpace the AI I was already too late with my pivot because the AI would also become capable at doing whatever I was deciding to switch to on a shorter timeline than It would take me to become proficient in it.
If you at all imagine a world where the need for human software engineers legit goes away, then there isn't likely much for you to do in that world anyway. Maybe except become a plumber.
I don't think AGI is this magic silver bullet Silicon Valley thinks it is. I think, like everything in engineering, it's a trade-off, and I think it comes with a very unpalatable caveat. How do you learn once you've run out of data? By making mistakes. End of the day I think it's in the same boat as us, only at least we can be held accountable.