[jkbwdr]

currently in cs masters program at ivy: i think it's like thinking that pure math study evaporated when we made the calculator, or that we suddenly shouldn't have bothered with Riemann sums because of the FTC. ai to coding is much the same in the sense of moving to a layer of higher abstraction. i don't think cs curriculums have to change drastically to accommodate this; however, the onus on not getting it wrong increases since ai produces probabilistic output. finally, you can have a chat bot do all the work for you to your own detriment i suppose...

[titanomachy]

I have no reason to believe that you aren't motivated mostly by curiosity and interest, but the mass of CS undergrads are primarily driven by economic incentives.

[palata]

Feels like CS used to be for nerds who wanted to understand how computers work, and then it became much more popular because there were good career opportunities.

Maybe with AI it will go back to "CS for nerds", and those nerds will be the ones landing the jobs that require actual understanding?

Genuinely wondering.

[raw_anon_1111]

This is a false view. Most developers have always just been “dark matter developers” who only saw it as a way to put food on their tables.

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/dark-matter-developers-the-un...

Almost every single developer I’ve met since 1996 talked about other hobbies they had outside of computers and didn’t think about coding outside if work.

[palata]

> Most developers have always just been “dark matter developers” who only saw it as a way to put food on their tables.

Is that what the article you share says? I read: "Where are the dark matter developers? Probably getting work done." It calls "dark matter developers" the ones that are not vocal on the internet. Doesn't say anything about how nerdy they are...

> Almost every single developer I’ve met since 1996 talked about other hobbies

Are you a developer yourself? And do you consider yourself a nerd? I am, and I do. And I actually have other hobbies. And I know a lot of developers who studied computer science because they were interested in computers (and not because they thought it would pay well).

[raw_anon_1111]

I started coding as a hobby in 1986 in assembly on an Apple //e. In the 6th grade as a short fat kid with a computer. By the time I got to ninth grade, I got over the “fat” part and had other “nerdy” after school activities. But they involved other people.

By the time I got to college, I was the typical college student - except I didn’t drink or smoke weed - I hung out with friends, dated, etc.

My hobbies when I got out of college included hanging out with friends and coworkers of both sexes because we all had money (not by today’s standards) and were all single and I was a part time fitness instructor and runner with friends - we did monthly charity races and trained for them together.

I did that until I was 35 and got remarried and spent most of my free time still exercising and with my wife and step sons.

They are both grown as of 2020 and after Covid, my wife and I got rid of everything we owned that wouldn’t fit in four suitcases and city hopped around the United States for a year [1]. We still travel a lot and this year we will be out of the country for a total of two months and away from our home for a third of the year traveling.

I have not done a side project or written a single line of code that I haven’t gotten paid for or to get a degree since 1992.

Right now, my free time is enjoying being in another country outside of the toxicity of the US, learning Spanish and exercise and of course finding random things to do with my wife and hanging out with friends.

[1] our “home” is a condo unit in condotel we own. When we aren’t there, we pack up everything we own and it is rented out as a hotel room and we get half the income that covers our mortgage and expenses.

[titanomachy]

Maybe, but it'll probably be a subtle shift rather than all-or-nothing. Like people will be 20% more nerdy on average or something.

Note that the kids going into top CS schools were never exactly dumb jocks, they still have to be smart and good at math in addition to being (possibly) money-motivated. I think people with brains that can do CS well tend to also find it at least somewhat interesting.

[jazz9k]

The ones I knew that were only driven by money all dropped out or changed majors.

[titanomachy]

What did they change to? Pre-med?

[roland35]

Business majors typically. I remember seeing a small graffiti in my engineering lecture hall that said something along the lines of "limit gpa -> 0: major= business administration"

[jazz9k]

Exactly this. Business or Econ majors.

[Esophagus4]

VC after graduation…

[giardini]

titanopathy asks"What did they change to? Pre-med?"

Such innocents could never compete in premed, which is replete with sociopaths/psychopaths willing to sabotage each others for a seat in med school. [We should consider a secret government program to siphon off toxic pre-med students to business/military/intelligence programs for which they are much more suitable]. Our medical biosphere is much less than healthy today thanks to these demon seed "flowering" into practice.

That, along with removing caps on medical school residencies:

https://www.openhealthpolicy.com/p/medical-residency-slots-c...

[titanomachy]

If you think that CS grads can't match pre-meds in sociopathic backstabbing, I'm guessing you've never worked at Meta or Amazon.

But I do agree that CS students are quite cooperative compared to premeds.

[c16]

This is pretty easy to interview for, if that is something your company cares for during the hiring process.