Alternative name for the stat:
Jobs laid off where struggling company used AI as a scapegoat.I honestly don’t believe it. I think they’re laying people off to mislead investors into thinking the AI can do their jobs, because that’s an enormous amount of expenses that would be cut, and thus an enormous increase in profits, if it were true.
We’re in a huge recession, masked by inflated stock numbers.
Very few businesses are doing good, unless they’re sucking investor money via AI promises.Yeah, I’ve seen a number of articles talking about how if a company isn’t doing well and needs to do layoffs that it’s a better narrative for investors that savings were found via AI. Then it’s not a “company is doing poorly” story, but a “company is forward-thinking” one.
Like, there are real layoffs that have happened and are induced by AI, but I’d also be pretty confident in saying that it’s not all of the ones where leadership is citing AI.
Right, reality is much more nuanced than „attributed to AI“. It‘s employers claiming they replaced them with AI without showing us the actual numbers as proof. Likely because they don‘t have any.
But while AI posters, Websites or even emails and spreadsheets might‘ve looked flashy to the untrained eye at first, they quickly started to look generic. It‘s overloaded, nothing sticks out and nobody cares.
Don‘t even get me started on AI generated videos that are still just slop or vibe code that may look stupidly productive at first but may turn out to be impossible to maintain in the long run. Especially when the few AI companies that survive the crash want to make some serious money.
Yup. This is the plan. This is also incomprehensible amount of wealth voting to upend the current world order. To all of the OLD MONEY … you better wake up, they will slaughter you soon after us.
And the site is vibe coded. You couldn’t write it…
My first thought. Everything is going to look the same soon isn’t it
I know. AI text and AI website just reeeeeks of slop.
If you get laid off just vibe code a competitor using your institutional and architectural knowledge, then undercut your former employer with customers you already know.
Many companies have a clause that strictly forbids exactly this behavior for at least a year, sometimes longer.
Which is unenforceable in most countries.
Should be attributed to idiot managers grasping at the latest straw-du-jour to save money. Might as well blame bad carpentry on hammers.
glad i switched from IT to post office 15 years ago. still rocking the infosec.
the writing has been an the wall for a while.
What do we do about it?
we know what to do about it but if we say it online we will be tracked down and it will be done to us.
the web is a honey pot.
Refuse to use LLMs; don’t use / train your replacement. Change careers, pivot to something you can’t be replaced by LLMs. Could still be programming in an industry that doesn’t use them for privacy or security reasons.
They’re used now throughout healthcare, banking, and defense. So even among some of the most regulated and privacy-conscious spaces, many are using these tools. Refusing to use them outright is a sensible position, but it is going to get more and more difficult.
Not using LLMs (and other tools) isn’t realistic. The proverbial toothpaste is already out of the tube, sadly. There aren’t going to be many/any industries that won’t be using them in some way.
I think the more realistic option is to use them in a responsible way and advocate for that.
“AI” is as much, maybe more of, a political tool in the corporate environment as it is a technical tool. Outright refusing to use LLM’s will result in you being replaced with someone who will get on board and you will find yourself wedged in a very narrow career path that is increasingly difficult to get out of.
LLM’a are not going to replace programmers. Not in the long term anyway. It’s really hurting opportunities for junior devs right now. There’s no denying that. But any idiot can write code. And LLM’s are just one more idiot in a long line of idiots, shelling out code without having one iota of actual knowledge around the problem its supposed to be solving.
I’m not saying there aren’t hills to die on and I’m not saying there won’t be negative long term consequences to the current “AI” craze. I just don’t think this is the hill. And just wait until management teams everywhere finally realize that, in order for LLM’s to be even remotely successful as a business tool, they have to do one thing that programmers have been trying and failing to get them to do for the last 50+ years: give us the goddamned fucking business requirements. Executives everywhere will backpedal so fast they’ll pull their collective hamstrings. “WhAt Do YoU mEaN its NoT a MaGiC box tHaT jUsT tElLs us hOw To MaKe mAkE mOrE mOnEy???”
Let’s say I’m a middle manager. Do I need to worry?
Probably fine. But I would be suspicious of any usage of the tool that removes too much of your job. Let’s say for example you can send an A.I. to attend meetings in your place, or an A.I. that automatically does performance reviews and check ins with subordinates. That would be a risky thing to do haha
I think that’s still a bit in the future yet, though. Just keep it in the back of your mind if you notice the tool “helping too much”
Ironic that the website is the most vibe coded looking thing ever.
They say they lay people off because AI does the job better (59% of 97). Doesn’t mean very much.
