For the last 20 years or so I’ve been trying out a new way of programming, one that (surprisingly) doesn’t use any LLMs or AI coding agents at all. It’s just me, a keyboard, and an IDE or text editor, writing code line by line—literally typing things like functions and curly braces.
I realize this sounds eccentric. What am I, some kind of minimalist? Actually, I’m what you might call an “early adopter.
they are going to lose their hard earned skills and only noticed it way too late
I hate AI too for the same reason. But in fairness, when was the last time you did any complex math in your head or on paper?
Like everybody else, I learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide on paper (do they still teach that in school now? I’m not even sure). And I learned cursive writing with fountain pens. And I did a lot of it when I was younger. But I reached for the slide rule as soon as the physics teacher told us we were allowed to use it, and then I reached for the calculator as soon as I could afford one. And I still do. I rarely calculate anything myself anymore, and I haven’t written more than 5 words on a Post-It note with a pen in decades.
AI is the same thing. It’s just going to make the old computer skills obsolete. Just like modern compilers made assembly obsolete to a large extent. I don’t even have a problem with it: like I said, it’s just progress.
My beef with AI is that it’s deployed by giant tech monopoly for the benefit of a few billionaires, rather than to benefit society as a whole. It’s gonna put everybody out of a job and unravel the very fabric of society so that a few super-rich fuckers can become even richer. And they’re deploying it to turbo-charge the surveillance capitalist system that made them rich in the first place, putting privacy and democracy in grave danger.
I have no problem with AI as a technology, and I have no problem with what it means for my job. My problem is with who controls AI and for what purpose.
I don’t do complex math in my head but I do all the “simple math” (money conversions, add, subtract, etc) in my head (unless they are huge numbers). I believe it’s important to keep sovereignty of our mind and not stop thinking and exercising it altogether.
It’s just going to make the old computer skills obsolete. Just like modern compilers made assembly obsolete to a large extent. I don’t even have a problem with it: like I said, it’s just progress.
I think less and less people will have these skills and maybe that will make this knowledge more valuable in the future. (reverse engineering, performance gains, etc)
It’s gonna put everybody out of a job and unravel the very fabric of society
I don’t know if this is accurate. Companies are starting to wake up and see that using LLMs is not as good and productive as they were led to believe. Some were even forced to rehire the people they laid off. Tokens are getting way too expensive. Things are slowly getting derailed.
they’re deploying it to turbo-charge the surveillance capitalist system that made them rich in the first place, putting privacy and democracy in grave danger.
100% agree with this. Furthermore, if most people become AI dependant and trust everything it says (as I’m seeing happening with young and some older people), you have the perfect tool for mass control, even better than social media…and we can still talk about the impact it has in the environment, which is another matter entirely.
I have no problem with AI as a technology
The technology is not at fault here, it never is. The problem always resides with the people and in this case with the values of each society. In a society were empathy is becoming a myth or a sign of weakness and where people only care about themselves, giving them a technology that works for them at a lower cost, will only reveal their true selfs.
I hate AI too for the same reason. But in fairness, when was the last time you did any complex math in your head or on paper?
Like everybody else, I learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide on paper (do they still teach that in school now? I’m not even sure). And I learned cursive writing with fountain pens. And I did a lot of it when I was younger. But I reached for the slide rule as soon as the physics teacher told us we were allowed to use it, and then I reached for the calculator as soon as I could afford one. And I still do. I rarely calculate anything myself anymore, and I haven’t written more than 5 words on a Post-It note with a pen in decades.
AI is the same thing. It’s just going to make the old computer skills obsolete. Just like modern compilers made assembly obsolete to a large extent. I don’t even have a problem with it: like I said, it’s just progress.
My beef with AI is that it’s deployed by giant tech monopoly for the benefit of a few billionaires, rather than to benefit society as a whole. It’s gonna put everybody out of a job and unravel the very fabric of society so that a few super-rich fuckers can become even richer. And they’re deploying it to turbo-charge the surveillance capitalist system that made them rich in the first place, putting privacy and democracy in grave danger.
I have no problem with AI as a technology, and I have no problem with what it means for my job. My problem is with who controls AI and for what purpose.
I don’t do complex math in my head but I do all the “simple math” (money conversions, add, subtract, etc) in my head (unless they are huge numbers). I believe it’s important to keep sovereignty of our mind and not stop thinking and exercising it altogether.
I think less and less people will have these skills and maybe that will make this knowledge more valuable in the future. (reverse engineering, performance gains, etc)
I don’t know if this is accurate. Companies are starting to wake up and see that using LLMs is not as good and productive as they were led to believe. Some were even forced to rehire the people they laid off. Tokens are getting way too expensive. Things are slowly getting derailed.
100% agree with this. Furthermore, if most people become AI dependant and trust everything it says (as I’m seeing happening with young and some older people), you have the perfect tool for mass control, even better than social media…and we can still talk about the impact it has in the environment, which is another matter entirely.
The technology is not at fault here, it never is. The problem always resides with the people and in this case with the values of each society. In a society were empathy is becoming a myth or a sign of weakness and where people only care about themselves, giving them a technology that works for them at a lower cost, will only reveal their true selfs.