> You Cannot Quite Opt Out
I am so over this. I cannot take anyone seriously that claims inevitability of their ideas, and how you must adopt them without "being left behind". If these tools are so good and so capable the result should be able to speak for themselves rather than this FOMO inducing, emotional language.
I couldn't agree more. Thus far I'm still objectively more productive than all of the AI enthusiasts I've worked with. I think a lot of the activity with these tools is coming from people who just enjoy using them more than they enjoyed coding. They feel more productive not because they are producing more but because they are producing somewhat less with much effort. It takes them roughly the same amount of time even if it changes the distribution of time spent on each task.
> and in recent weeks it has started to dominate the Twitter discourse.
As a general rule, I don't waste my time with the advice of people who still think Twitter is a source of wisdom.
It's especially rich when you consider the shitty code the "loop" produces. The article quotes Boris Cherny as if he's someone to look up to. But then you look at the code he produces with "loops", and it's an unmaintainable ball of mud:
[1] https://neuromatch.social/@jonny/116324676116121930
[2] https://neuromatch.social/@jonny/116349873176941251
the point of that section is that attackers and security researchers will use / are using loops, and you as the maintainer are not able to opt out of others doing this. an unwilling participant.
No, but you always have the option to opt out of being a maintainer. If "the community" is going to behave badly and bury you under a barrage of vibeslop you can just leave.
EDIT: there's a version of this that could be positive--everything could get a hell of a lot more secure. But that doesn't seem to be what's happening.
In my experience, some language like this is the result of witnessing it speak for itself.
You're being uncharitable. I don't read it as intentionally FOMO inducing. I read it as the exhausted sigh of resignation from someone who sees where the wind is blowing whether they like it or not. I see it as someone watching tech management and execs listening rapt as Boris pours the poison of AI maximalism in their ears. I read it as someone who sees developers around them either drinking from that same poisoned well or bowing under the pressure from those leaders to adopt AI or lose their livelihoods.
It is true that the author is incorrect: you can certainly opt out, but you won't be opting out of AI, you'll be opting out of the industry.
"the industry" is not some monolith, and treating it as such is no productive. There are all types of software and many ways in which it is created. If the companies that are "AI enabled" are so much better we should see some big changes soon. But I'm still waiting for products I use from "AI enabled" companies to start churning out features at unprecedented speed.
So then what's your experience in your current place of work?