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by whynotminot 552 days ago
> They've been promising us this thing since the 60s: End-user development, 5GLs, etc. enabling the average Joe to develop sophisticated apps in minimal time. And it never arrives.

This has literally already arrived. Average Joes are writing software using LLMs right now.
1 comments
arrosenberg 552 days ago
Source? Which software products are built without engineers?
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Jensson 552 days ago
Personal websites etc, you don't think about them as software products since they weren't built by engineers, but 30 years ago you needed engineers to build those things.
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arrosenberg 552 days ago
Ok, well I’m not going to worry about my job then. 25 years ago GeoCities existed and you didn’t need an engineer. 10 year old me was writing functional HTML, definitely not an engineer at that point.
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whynotminot 552 days ago
To be honest maybe no one should worry.

If AI truly overtakes knowledge work there’s not much we could reasonably do to prepare for it.

If AI never gets there though, then you saved yourself the trouble of stressing about it. So sure, relax, it’s just the second coming of GeoCities.

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hatefulmoron 552 days ago
I think the fear comes from the span of time. If my job is obsolete at the same time as everybody else's, I wouldn't care. I mean, sure, the world is in for a very tough time, but I would be in good company.

The really bad situation is if my entire skill set is made obsolete while the rest of the world keeps going for a decade or two. Or maybe longer, who knows.

I realize I'm coming across quite selfish, but it's just a feeling.

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