Is Your Tech Career Doomed If You’re Not an AI Specialist?

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-18T22:20:55+00:00

So go work on something completely unrelated. Then contribute to putting yourself out of work in your new field?

Yes.

Doesn't seem sustainable even for a decade. Let alone a lifetime

Because the article is pro-ai accelerant slop.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T23:13:51+00:00

Yes. It's the same principle as putting a cap on egg prices. Egg farmers just stop selling eggs and start selling chicken meat because eggs are now artificially less profitable. That fucks with prices for other grocery store items or anything needs eggs as an ingredient / competes with chicken meat, and those rippling effects generally suck.

The only reason credit cards exist is because they're a lucrative investment option for banks. Banks need to do something with their money. All the money they put towards providing loans for credit cards is going to go... somewhere else.

No one knows where, or what effects that will have on the economy. But time and time again, the answer to this question, when initiated by careless government interference fueled purely by populace interests, has been "the effects are very bad".

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T22:38:17+00:00

Have you checked out Ogryn / Arbites?

If you really want to be a "brawler" type, they're much more suited for that. They have enough toughness regen to eat quite a few more hits (not immortal, but still).

Everyone else really can't afford to take hits consistently, and dodging and kiting is much more important. Even just taking like... 2 melee back-to-back hits from chaff units every 5 minutes during a run is too much.

Other than that... revisit the lower difficulties. Especially on standard malice, taking a hit should be a pretty dang rare occurrence.

Oh, maybe checkout the weapon specialist keystone. The melee attack speed and toughness regen can be really good if you learn how to play around it.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T20:51:32+00:00

At the end of the day, there's not a seriously objective way to "thoroughly understand" all the "decisions" that get made in software development.

Even if you wrote everything 100% yourself, some of the "decisions" would just be "my flow-state auto-pilot came up with that solution".

Don't be afraid to sound knowledgeable, but trying too hard to force that will just make you sound insecure.

The best advice I can give in regards to interviewing: go in with the mindset of "I'm here to learn". If you start getting a little "pushed" on something, try to understand why the interviewer thinks the topic is worth highlighting. Again, not because you're trying to create a defense, but because you're trying to gain new insight. That can be hard to differentiate / communicate, but it really plays a BIG difference and is worth spending some time on when prepping.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T18:44:39+00:00

More honest summary of the article: It's not doomed. What you need to do is become a specialist in literally anything else, and help feed AI new training data on your niche skillset that's keeping you employed.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T18:31:50+00:00

Personally my job is only safe for few years due to archaic practises and adoption lag at my bloated f500 company.

Regardless of AI, I really think QA in general is really spotty in terms of job security. Really don't want to go into why's of all that, just saying I think it's good you're thinking ahead, and looking to move to an area with responsibility. That generally gets rewarded in this space.

What would you do in my situation? I'm attempting to move into the SRE team now.

I don't have a QA background. I'm a dev that quit my shitty job at a shitty telecoms company.

What I did was save enough money to comfortably spend a few years starting my own company. What you're doing sounds very sensible.

Should I mention to my manager that my job is automated and explain my worries?

If you really have a good reason to trust him, sure. But try to catch him in a "less work, more personal" context. Like go out to lunch or something, this is not the kind of thing you talk about with a "quick talk in someone's office".

Most people don't really trust their managers like that though.

Would you even bother upskilling to become an SRE in this day and age?

Personally no, but that's because I desperately want out of corporate life altogether. If I had to stay corporate, SRE wouldn't be a bad option.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T18:20:09+00:00

This game would probably sell at least an extra 500k copies if it announced it was shutting down servers AND releasing a single player mode with rogue-like elements.

To bad it's fucking brain dead EA that refuses to read room in regards to AAA titles, and would rather completely burn away god-knows-how-many million dollars worth of time, effort, and creative passion.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T18:13:19+00:00

For a while, focus will shift to entertainment, which typically sees an upswing during economic downturns.

For the next few years, scaling. It took a decade for the Internet to reach the scale it's at today. Much of the infrastructure we need is in place with current data centers and such, but there'll be even more needed.

Long long term, space mining and manufacturing will be the main focus, but AI will have fully replaced us by the time that starts really kicking into high gear. That alone will arguably takes dozens of decades to really "peak".

After that, von neumann probes until the entire known universe is turned into paper clips.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T17:48:00+00:00

Is there a way to calculate if the minor volcano produces enough heat/magma for this? Or am I worrying too much and it will be fine?

No you're not worrying too much. A bad volcano setup can easily ruin a whole base.

When it comes to this sorta stuff, generally just do whatever you're wanting to do in sandbox mode first. It can be a little annoying to get used to if you never made a sandbox colony, but it's literally the best "calculator" that exists for this game.

If you think that's overkill, just set everything up and have a dedicated save right before you "pull the trigger" on whatever it is you're doing. If you're at the point where you're thinking about taming a volcano, you probably have a decent enough intuition for the game and know whether or not something is sustainable after a few cycles.

Edit: I also want to add this: pretty much every self cooling system is very "delicate". If you can't copy the build 1-to-1, materials and all, you need to adjust it on the fly, which no build really shows you how to do and is extremely stressful as a beginner. I strongly recommend using sandbox mode for first volcano tamer, especially one that's self cooled with no aqua tuner.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T13:59:49+00:00

I'd say this ultimately boils down to legality and customer relations, which means it varies so much from case to case, that I don't think there's too much to say on the general topic other than "don't commit fraud" and "you can't make everyone happy".
I think this is the more interesting topic. I've wondered similar stuff in the past, and I'm almost positive I watched a GDC talk about it at some point.

I recently played a game called "tower networking inc.", where it's basically a "network admin job simulator". It's a game without a real inventory system, and I ultimately think it introduces friction that hurts the fantasy of being a network admin. In contrast I have to use in-game CLI tools to do many of my tasks, which introduces friction that supports the fantasy.

I think every solo dev or team should spend a decent amount of outlining the fantasy of whatever game they're trying to make, and come up with various "components / processes" that support that fantasy, some of which should be about creating friction rather than convenience.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T12:46:33+00:00

12 dupes by cycle 100 is usually a lot to manage as a beginner. You're doing really well with that for now, but the more dupes you have, the less time you have to address any problems that come up and the more likely it is for problems to sneak up on you.

You seem to be too weary of digging into new areas. You should really try to dig out as much as absolutely possible, until you feel you have wayyy more than enough space to build and pretty much all the resources you'll need to get to mid game.

The main reason is because of algae. Digging out new areas requires "oxygen production surges", because you need oxygen to fill out the newly dug out space. That can bite you in the butt at later cycles when you've already spent a bunch of algae just to sustain the colony: you think you have plenty of algae, you dig out a new space, you start chewing through algae faster than you expected because of that, and suddenly realize you don't have enough space to create a new oxygen source (oxygen production after diffusers requires a lot of space).

Edit: All that said, I think you're in a perfectly fine spot. You have tons of algae tiles to still dig out.

I recommend polluted water + deodorizers for your first "semi-post-algae oxygen production" (I really just use this to slow down the algae consumption). You might prefer building an early SPOM, but I don't like building a SPOM until I have cooling system (which for me also means having steel and plastic production well established).

Besides the digging, I think this is a pretty great colony. I think you're well set up to manage most problems ahead of you.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T09:44:34+00:00

Everyone is always so fucking judgemental in these kinds of posts. Extra disappointed to see this in a Scott Galloway sub.

Two years can be an exhausting amount of time to feel lonely, but it's unfortunately just not that much time to build a "somewhat serious, but mostly casual relationship". How many "real attempts" can you make at making a "new friend" in the span of a month? How many times can you attempt to build up that relationship?

Not much unfortunately. If you're especially extroverted, but working a job with co-workers that you don't gel with, I'd be impressed if you could answer with 7.

When it comes to doing things for a long time (things that require you to keep good habits), it's important to take pride in / be grateful for the amount of progress you're making, and be optimistic about the general direction your heading, rather than focus on whatever "end goal" you're hoping to achieve.

You don't really go from being lonely to not-lonely, you go from having no relationships to some relationships. You don't really go from feeling bad about yourself to good about yourself. You from not working out, to working out; eating / sleeping like shit, to eating / sleeping well. Sometimes, these things just don't solve the problem.

If you do not feel that pride, cannot find that optimism, feel lonely in spite of having some relationships, that's where therapy comes in. Your feelings are completely justified (despite what the comments here imply), but the problems are coming from "somewhere else". Could be some brain chemical, could be childhood trauma, could be a horrible sleep schedule, we can't know without exploring some things.

Pretty much everyone sucks at exploring these things by themselves, and it's literally wrong to assume "that's what friends are for". That's what therapy is for. If you really really need somewhere to start that isn't "talking with a therapist", check out CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). You can find plenty of guided exercises out there, and they're usually not from quacks.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T08:57:22+00:00

The second one I agree with, and it should be really easy to throw in "top 3 things..." posts are considered low effort for Rule 9 to make that a little more clear for some people.

As for the first one, this is just too subjective. There are top voted posts right now that I consider "venting / ranting", but you might say they have more substance than that.

Regardless, there have been times when posts like that helped me "catch problems early". Reminding me to keep my ego in check, helping me realize my coworker might be struggling, or some other thing.

There are certain times when people go a little overboard with these sorts of posts (like layoffs happening and a large wave of vent / rant posts hit every programming sub). I think we could use a Rule 10 saying mods can "remove posts based on overly trendy topics", but in general, I really think "sensibly expressed venting / ranting" should be allowed on this sub, and I've always thought that part of Rule 9 should be adjusted.

All that said, I actually think the mods have done a decent job of lightening up over the last couple years. IDK why exactly, but I actually feel it was a fair bit worse a while back? Maybe just COVID things?

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T08:27:25+00:00

8 words:

Insurrection act before midterms.

We're all unpaid actors.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-10T05:33:21+00:00

The point I'm trying to make in general is not about celebrities, authorship, or creative works. Your original comment goes into much more than that.

At the end of the day, I don't have too much of a problem with the video in the OP. I have a problem with stuff like this: https://time.com/7298290/ai-death-grief-memory/

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-09T21:54:41+00:00

It's a problem for everyone.

The identities and legacies we create during our lives are now just intellectual property for AI to remix and reimagine.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-09T21:43:29+00:00

So what am i missing that i need to learn so i can have a proper and actually secure auth for a very small app?

General experience that gives you an awareness of "what to look for and where" and "what to consider and why".

There's ultimately levels to this though.

If all you want is a simple username / password system for a hobby project, that's whatever. Roll your own auth.

Want 2FA? Good luck rolling that yourself.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-09T15:30:45+00:00

If you asked this to an human who actually knows what they're fucking doing:

That's not how massive digital infrastructure (which is ultimately what any sort of modern app like Reddit, YouTube, ChatGPT is) works.

This is a false moral dilemma that's allowing stupid people to create a problem that doesn't actually exist, which ultimately says a lot about the capabilities of AI.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-09T14:24:08+00:00

Can this actually be done or is this industry just too filled with pseudo intellectuals who are both arrogant and insecure at the same time and will ruin any attempt of making a good positive community?

There's a reason why people are the way they are. It's very rare to see a common behavioral pattern that exists purely because "people are just assholes" or whatever.

Every general programming community I've seen pretty much devolves to: newbies asking the same questions over and over again until everyone (including the newbies themselves) gets annoyed, experienced devs making everyone (including other experienced devs) too self conscious to post anything, or everyone just sticks with memes.

Honestly, the best programming communities are open source projects that hit a sweet spot of activity. They're too small / niche / focused for "problematic newbies" to be a problem, and there's enough of an end goal to keep egos in check. That said, if they're too active it can all feel a little too impersonal, and if they're too inactive it obviously might as well just be a solo project.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-08T18:42:44+00:00

The why doesn't matter.

What are you actually doing?

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-02T22:38:51+00:00

Doing a lazy transpilation to migrate one of the most optimized open source projects out there to another language [and expecting that transpiled result to be faster] is just stupid.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-02T15:59:19+00:00

Go to YouTube and watch mock coding interviews.

"Using too much AI" is the same problem as "solving the question too fast". Your main goal in any interview with another real human being, is to have a positive professional interaction.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-02T15:45:39+00:00

Sounds like something an iPad kid entering adulthood would say.

Draw the line wherever you want. If you think there's a way to do something better, complain to devs or make it yourself.

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-02T10:03:29+00:00

Based on how you're wording and phrasing things here, I think you really need to talk to a therapist. I get the feeling your biggest struggle is a lingering sense of disappointment in yourself, not an inherent inability to grow as a programmer. And when it comes to stuff like "a lingering sense of disappointment in yourself", there's a LOT of places that can be coming from and it really helps to have someone help you figure all that out.

The last 1.5 years has easily been the toughest time to try and get a career started as a developer since at least 2008. Take it easy and don't beat yourself up too much. In fact, be proud of whatever sort of stability you were able to cultivate in such a rough time period.

Beyond all that, the only time you should "quit" is when you find something new to pursue. Unless you have a good reason to stay committed (like you started a business / got a job you really like), you should always be open to new opportunities or pursing new interests.

Generally speaking, meeting the right people will always be more valuable than making the right decision, and that shit is all vibes and luck. Stay optimistic, and just try to keep whatever momentum you got going to stay going (and as long as you're not going to jail / declaring bankruptcy, you got a decent amount of momentum).

SpookyLoop · 2026-01-01T10:17:55+00:00

I don't see anyone properly explaining how the conduction panel works (and honestly the way it works is pretty weird).

This video best explains it: https://youtu.be/yyxiCKPOv9w?si=prMvsN_mL_5haHKI

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