Comment by bitwize
4 days ago
AI is the new cloud. There's no market for people or companies who aren't committed to it. If you're a dev who refuses to use AI, no company will hire you; and should a company decide not to use AI they will have a hard time retaining devs (and they will need more devs). Their investors and big-ticket customers will also think twice before signing off on major commitments.
So yes, use AI. Don't nitpick the costs and benefits. The world is headed this way; if you want to develop software for a living and afford to eat, you need to be too.
> and should a company decide not to use AI they will have a hard time retaining devs (and they will need more devs)
Need more devs? Why? If a company was being profitable just fine prio AI era, they will still be profitable if they decide not to use AI. Shipping crap faster is not a formula for success. Shipping quality faster? I prefer shipping quality at a good pace
youll be outcompeted by companies that do use it (caveat: effectively)
growth is much more important than profitability
Will you though? I see this repeated, but I’ve almost never changed products because one has 10x more features than another.
I usually buy and use products that are simple and effective, and that get out of my way to do the thing that I want to do.
For email, I’m a happy customer of Fastmail and I’ve been paying them for years. I don’t care if they ever release a new feature and I’d never switch away from them to a competitor that’s less stable but does more. They release improvements slowly but they are very stable. But I would switch away from them if they start shoving AI into things or delivering subpar features that make my email worse.
For healthcare related websites, I can already see my test results, schedule appointments, and communicate with my doctor. What more could an AI-driven medical platform give me that makes my life better?
For maps — I unfortunately had to move away from Apple recently when they added Ads. So I’m mostly just using OpenStreetMaps. I could see AI improving the OSM functionality by updating the app (OrganicMaps) routing algorithms and such, so there is room for growth there, but it’s not that massive.
Can anyone offer features that Uber can’t now due to LLMs? There are a bunch of local Uber competitors but uber wins because it’s easy and there aren’t major features to differentiate there.
Do you have examples that prove that delivering a bunch of features really fast is going to steal customers from something?
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Enjoy getting your milkshake drunk by AI-first companies then.
> So yes, use AI. Don't nitpick the costs and benefits. The world is headed this way; if you want to develop software for a living and afford to eat, you need to be too.
It's really saddening to see software engineers throw out all critical thinking and innovation out the window to behave like sheep and follow the trend line. The industry was trailblazed by people that refused to do just that and the same is going to be true in the future.
Yes but most people aren’t trailblazers, they’re horribly average and just want to get by. This includes me.
This industry is hostile. You need a self preservationist mindset if you want long term success. Or, at least, it feels that was for someone who isn’t absurdly talented, wealthy, or connected. So, for now, we put our head down and be good little cogs.
I think of it this way. In a company with a good culture, I will build a rapport with my management and give my honest opinions. In a company with a bad culture, I just nod along and say “uh huh yeah yes sir what a great idea!” Because I know that’s it’s gonna get pushed through no matter what I say, and my opinions will only serve to hurt me.
And, right now, tech, or even America, is like one big company with a rotten, rotten culture.
Are you saying productivity is strictly greater for developers who don’t use AI?
AI makes people think they are being productive, but in reality is a drain on productivity.
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It's much more than that. There's plenty of market for people and companies who don't specialise in cloud software. The market for programmers who don't use AI is going to be more like the market for programmers who don't use compilers.
Or, don’t. Do what you want, don’t listen to random people on the internet telling you what to do.