Comment by motbus3
12 hours ago
I'm not through yet but I don't know.
As a developer for almost 30 years now, if I think where most of my code went, I would say, quantitatively, to the bin.
I processed much data, dumps and logs over the years. I collected statistical information, mapped flows, created models of the things I needed to understand. And this was long before any "big data" thing.
Nothing changed with AI. I keep doing the same things, but maybe the output have colours.
Heh...I've worked for 25 years and basically I'm yet to put code into production. Mostly projects that were cancelled or scrubbed either during development or shortly after or just downright never used since they were POC/prototypes.
I think I've overall just had just 2 or 3 projects where anyone has actually even tried the thing I've been working on.
That holds true for a tailor, even expensive clothing items eventually wear out and get thrown away. They are cared for better, repaired a few times, but in the end, disposed of. I’d say that analogy holds up for 'traditionally' created software vs. AI-created software. Handmade clothes vs. fast fashion.
This scares me to death.
This is why you need to find emotional significance for your life (traveling, family, art, etc...) outside of this claustrophobic work.
The code was just created to support some broader goal, which it presumably did much of the time. The value of those goals is where the meaning comes from.
A chef reflecting on their life would hardly lament that every meal they'd ever crafted ended up in the bin (or the toilet).