Comment by charcircuit
11 days ago
>Not a big deal when the kid is 27, but a pretty big deal at 40 when they have no other marketable skills
Let's say someone started building products since 10. By the time they were 27 they would have 17 years of experience. By 40 they would have 30 years of experience. That is more than enough time for one to gain a marketable skill that people are looking for.
>they don’t know what they don’t know… in which case the AI won’t help at all.
I think you are underestimating at AI's ability to sus out such unknown unknowns.
You’re expecting kids in 5th grade to pick a career and start building focused projects on par with the experience one would get in a full time position at a company?
This can’t be serious?
How does AI solve the unknown unknowns problem?
Even if someone may hear about potential problems or good ideas from AI, without experience very few of those things are incorporated into how a person operates. They have never felt the pain of missing those steps.
There are plenty of signs at the pool that say not to run, but kids still try to run… until they fall and hurt themselves. That’s how they learn to respect the sign.
>You’re expecting kids in 5th grade to pick a career and start building focused projects on par with the experience one would get in a full time position at a company?
Yes, I am. Do not underestimate how smart 5th graders are and what they can do with all of the free time they have.
>How does AI solve the unknown unknowns problem?
You can ask it what it thinks you should know. You can ask it for what pitfalls to look out for. You can ask it to roleplay to play out scenarios and get practice with them. I think such practice is enough to get them to a state of being hirable.
I’m sure there are some exceptional 5th graders doing amazing things. The number that will keep that same interest into adulthood is exceptionally low. Kids also need a chance to be kids. Expecting them to be heads down working on their career ambitions at 10 is dystopian.
It’s not about just getting hired. It’s about being effective once hired. I expect a senior to have preferences and opinions, informed by experience, on how things can and should run… while also being able to adapt to the local culture. We should be able to debate ideas in real time without having to run to the LLM to read the next reply. If that’s all someone is bringing to the table, just tell the team to use an LLM during brainstorming sessions.