Experts Say Young People Should Learn to Code so They Can Get a Job 10 Years Ago : theonion

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 123 points 2 months ago (3 children)

They quoted me! I'm famous, now!

MIT Professor David Tinsdale believes that concerns over automation may be overstated. “Artificial Intelligence can already beat most programmers in their three major skill-sets: writing code, automating repetitive tasks, and lying about their level of knowledge,” the Professor claims. “However, that doesn’t mean it will eliminate programming jobs. It’s just going to the nature of the work programmers do. For instance: previously, programmers spent most of their days fixing errors and writing boilerplate code. In the future, they’ll have new responsibilities – like driving an uber or filming homemade pornography.”

[–] morrowind@lemmy.ml 36 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's crazy, we even go MIT professors on lemmy, alongside A-list celebrities

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Allegedly

[–] dhtseany@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago

Yeah that's fair

[–] Jax@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Which A list celebrity is allegedly on Lemmy?

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Margot Robbie

[–] Jax@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ooh, you mean Academy Award nominated character actress Margot Robbie. Right, I had forgotten - of course we have A-list celebs.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 16 points 2 months ago

Filming homemade pornography sounds a lot more fun than coding.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

lying about their level of knowledge

I feel called out, sir

[–] Xenny@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Y'all are so Doom and gloom we're going to need so many programmers here in a moment when AI breaks all the codebases

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It's going to be outsourcing on steroids. So many folks employed either talking to the AI to get it to write the right code, or fixing the shitty code the AI spits out.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 8 points 2 months ago

OMG we figured out how to automate legacy code. Just means we can skip the fun greenfield startup phase and go straight to the endless ground war.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 2 points 2 months ago

That's all I do now. But I'm as productive by myself as I would be with a team of juniors under me.

[–] PenisDuckCuck9001@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

It needs to hurry up and happen then. And hopefully corporations won't decide it's more worthwhile to rebuild it with an ai that does a 1000% worse job for 0% of the pay.

[–] Xenny@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They can try that too and like you said 1000% worse job. Once people start losing clients and losing money for their stupid decisions we will see results. Right now developers "translate" dumb ideas into good ones. If they get rid of the developers then AI will just take the dumb ideas and implement them as best they can. Dumbly

[–] mynameisigglepiggle@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The problem isn't that ai can code, or that people will be able to get a program off the ground with no experience, it's that the profession will be completely devalued.

People will come to you, and say they only want to pay 3 peanuts because "all you have to do is type it into the ai chatbot"

I saw the same thing happen with web Dev when my civil engineer uncle said "anyone can build a website, I'll just hire some high school kid" and this came from someone in professional services who should know better

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

it’s that the profession will be completely devalued.

Yes, the position where folks tell you "I have an idea for the next Facebook! I just need you to code it" will be devalued. /s

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Can confirm, that’s just about when I learned

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm starting carriage maker school next semester, wish me luck!

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Who's your buggy whip supplier? I'm hoping to make a career shift and having a client would make it a lot easier.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

Bob over on main street. Tell him the guy with the beard sent you and he'll throw in a free oiling.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_winter

[–] TriflingToad@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

why was literally everything tech related made in the 80s?

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

True, this is what I did years ago (although I'd been programming on and off since I was a teenager tbh). I'm not gonna eat the onion but the job market was a lot less competitive 10 years ago. I'm just fortunate because I became a senior developer around the time of COVID and I wasn't just starting out as an inexperienced dev.

[–] PenisDuckCuck9001@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is just a normal article that happens to be on a satire news site.

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 0 points 2 months ago

Actually quite sad that I've always wanted to do this, yet the chance I get to make a career over it due to age, I wasn't able to make it in time for the availability and money

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 0 points 2 months ago (4 children)

My dad tried to push me to computer work when I was young, I'm glad I didn't listen.

I became a diesel mechanic and am now a specialised crane technician, sure it harder on the body but I don't foresee my job being replaced by Ai and automation in my life time.

If anything the diagnosis work would become easier, much like the introduction of on board diagnostic facilities have already done for us.

The way electricity works though you can never exactly pinpoint an electrical fault with 100 percent accuracy on a machine without physically looking. Along with that limitation the robots to go in and make repairs are a way off still.

[–] Takumidesh@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I worked as a licensed aircraft mechanic for years, watched my coworkers die from disease and injury, destroyed my body, and did it all for basically no money.

I did a coding bootcamp and and doubled my salary + plus wfh + better benefits.

Blue collar work is exploitation to the highest degree.

Automation has been replacing your job btw, just indirectly. More reliability, better preventative procedures, better chemical engineering, process improvements, and automation of related and dependent fields means that equipment needs less maintenance overall.

Software development jobs are not actually being replaced by 'ai' and the automation has to actually be engineered by someone. In the same way that an llm may be able to naively troubleshoot a problem, it can also naively achieve a programming solution. That's it though, llms arent solving the problems that computer science is solving.

After working on airplanes I worked as an applications developer (and pseudo systems engineer) for an industrial automation company, the physical machines we manufactured completely eradicated jobs, a single bespoke robot cell took what was 30-50 people and replaced it with three people monitoring it. Those 47 people are now in competition with you for your job.

Like you said in your own post, advancements in technology are making your job easier, which in turn lowers the bar of entry and the pay scale with it. Easier and faster work (increased efficiency) means you need less people to do the work.

Too many people think 'automation' is a robot coming in and replacing your job, sometimes that is the case, but more often than not, it's things like digitizing records, excel spreadsheets, process improvements, and micro automation (like tools that can scan and diagnose every trouble code and provide the common troubleshooting paths, instead of needing to watch a flashing pattern and look that pattern up manually in a physical book)

Every job has automation risk, it's just not always clear.

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I understand that my job will go away eventually, fortunately it won't effect me in my life time. Specialised skills in a specialised industry are worth a fortune.

What also helps me is I teach my trade to others, I'm not the dumb cunt on the ground doing all the labour every day all day.

I wouldn't recommend getting into my trade today to anyone however. It's hard on the body but if you have the work ethic and knowledge there's a fortune to be made in Australia.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Specialised skills in a specialised industry are worth a fortune.

Unlike all that computer crap, which is, thankfully, finally all solved.

We can tell because our computer, phone, Internet connection, shopping websites, and government services websites all work perfectly, all the time, without any security breaches, now. (This is sarcasm).

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm not saying computers aren't specialised at some point. My point is where I live in can make over 200k a year with 2 weeks off every 3 weeks. I don't have that sort of opportunities in other industries where I am

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. I'm just joking about your choice of words.

Like with any specialization, I'm glad you're doing yours so I don't have to learn it or learn to live without it.

On the computer bullshit side, shareholders and CEOs are betting hard on AI, right now, and we're - unbelievabably - headed toward an even greater shortage of talent.

Unfathomably, I believe folks are going to look back with nostalgia on today's pathetic computer science talent pool.

(No offense to my peers, but there clearly aren't enough of us who actually know what we're doing.)

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No offense to my peers, but there clearly aren’t enough of us who actually know what we’re doing.

I've been in support and sales engineering for over a decade and the number of people who can't read an error message and then do what it says on the first search result is too damn high.

But it makes me look like a miracle worker which is nice.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

But it makes me look like a miracle worker which is nice.

Lol. Yeah. That part is nice. I would trade it for a more sane world. But it's nice.

[–] Gingernate@programming.dev 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm a diesel technician and I wish I had gotten into tech work/programming instead. Honestly working towards a career change, but after 12 years of experience, a family etc, I make too much to change careers.

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 1 points 2 months ago

Yeah I understand that feeling.

Earlier this year I almost took the jump to lecturing. Was offered the job and everything but I'm still to young to make the change and take the pay cut. In another 10 years when I'm in my 40s it would be a better option, but in the next ten years I'm set to make so much more money that I can't justify moving while my body is able

[–] Zink@programming.dev 4 points 2 months ago

Like many fields, computer work is still good if you’re drawn to it as a legitimate interest of yours. I’m part of a software engineering group working on embedded systems. I think the other engineers and our boss all really like what we have going, but you can tell everybody is a proper computer nerd and not the “I heard there was money in computers” type.

Admittedly though, generative AI is hitting certain segments of the field harder than others.

[–] Venat0r@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And if the western world ever manages to move to fully electric you can always get a job in a less regulated country 😅

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 4 points 2 months ago

Yeah, thankfully I have my restricted electrical license too so I can still work on fully electric machines anyway.

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