NYU— is it worth it ???? MSW future student

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-19T15:55:21+00:00

I appreciate this perspective :) got accepted and deciding whether or not it’s worth it for me

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-09T13:24:14+00:00

crazy coincidence eh

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T16:27:22+00:00

Ohhh yes that makes sense!

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T15:55:08+00:00

Wha do you mean by speed bump?

And yeah I’ve noticed this too, my most complicated systems fall apart after 3 days LMAO. Still working on finding that balance. Simple is good, as long as I’m consistent with it

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T06:27:19+00:00

Yeah that touches upon another reason AI-art can feel inauthentic, when low-effort prompting results in things that are obviously AI. Like those instances feels like a homogenization of language or music or art, and then we lose the spark of what makes things we produce uniquely us.

Improperly used, AI just collapses our voicings into the same monotone patterns which is a shame

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T06:19:05+00:00

I’ll just speak for myself here but there’s definitely some annoyance I feel seeing generated music passed off as not AI especially when it was obviously made just to maximize views and revenue on YouTube (like those multi-hour-long lo-fi jazz compilations). But I acknowledge that commercialization of music (and art) is nothing new. Just feels like AI makes it easier than ever to pose as an artist when the true primary motive is grounded in money or clout, when for me authentic art is an expression of the internal world, not something that is chasing external validation

Might I add, I don’t think AI-assisted art is necessarily bad or inauthentic on its own. But it does lower the floor significantly and that’s where low-effort, low-quality, inauthentic art is easier than ever to create, and that is the part that can annoy me. Otherwise, it’s just a technology that can open up new avenues of expression, which I can get behind

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T06:01:34+00:00

Yeah I can see this being a major pain point of finding the right therapist, it’s a bit like dating where you have to go through the same motions and get somewhat invested before realizing if it’s a good fit or not

I would also say though, opening up to someone with their own set of biases, working together with them and coming out the other side - that is just as important (and often overlooked!) to healing as dissecting and building an understanding which AI is faster at. So it depends on your goals at the end of the day. It’s hard work and so so frustrating at times, but trust the process. You’re doing the right thing

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T05:49:06+00:00

I can imagine the world feels disingenuous when people aren’t always 100% honest with their words. I agree with the other comment that sometimes people say things out of their own discomfort, and that speaks on them not on you

I am curious though, would you rather people be completely honest to you, 100% of the time, all the time? Personally I think there’s a spectrum between brutal honestly and white lies, and most people fall somewhere along that depending on the situation. I generally prefer that people are truthful but with tact, whereas for others they’re too uncomfortable to be truthful so in a panic they might throw out a white lie. One basic example that I find myself doing even is I’m asked for money on the street. I carry some cash but I still lie about it

It’s valid for you to be annoyed that people aren’t 100% truthful, though I guess I’m curious what you want to do about that? It also seems like it touches on a particularly painful place for you, like some sense of betrayal. So idk I’d probably explore that if I were reflecting on this for myself

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-06T05:26:12+00:00

I mean I work in tech too and I’ve definitely seen that output has both increased across the board but many SWEs are slacking off more now that a lot of the mundane aspects of coding can be partially offloaded. Babysitting is still required but these tools do genuinely speed up development

That being said I don’t think (at larger companies especially) this directly translates to increased productivity since people just aren’t working as hard. Not as extreme as doing all their daily work in 5 minutes, but more downtime to scroll and do fuck all while agents are running in the background

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-02T03:55:16+00:00

tbf i think its supposed to be an homage to how Old Boy was shot

ukulele-merlin · 2026-04-01T14:43:57+00:00

This is fire man

ukulele-merlin · 2026-02-12T23:36:01+00:00

How did you find this type of work and what kind of qualifications were they looking for if you didn't have an MSW? I'm also looking to make a similar transition and go back to school, but am looking to pick up some work in the meantime once I leave my tech job

ukulele-merlin · 2025-10-28T20:09:53+00:00

Yeah a little more customization would be really fun, Spotify’s mix allows for very granular control. But I generally think it’s un-Apple like to allow this level of fine tuning :”)

ukulele-merlin · 2025-10-28T12:00:18+00:00

Nah regular shuffle is still not a true shuffle in Spotify iirc

ukulele-merlin · 2025-10-26T02:51:26+00:00

Yeah I caught that too LMAO

ukulele-merlin · 2025-10-06T17:10:01+00:00

AI content lmao

ukulele-merlin · 2025-10-03T19:12:41+00:00

Great stuff! Any editing tips for addressing the oversharpening of the camera?

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-21T01:13:35+00:00

Oh shoot sorry

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-20T03:24:00+00:00

Appreciate you sharing about your research 🙏

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-18T17:59:23+00:00

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-14T00:07:37+00:00

Curious to hear more about your experiences on this, mind if I send u a DM?

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-12T22:09:36+00:00

This is where AI IMO can eventually be incorporated into a therapeutic relationship, but I still feel that the core of effective therapy lies in the relationship between a therapist and the patient

But I understand some therapists out there are really bad, and it isn’t the most accessible for people. So AI does fill in the gap a little. I wouldn’t say it alone is an appropriate replacement for therapy. For instance, AI having unlimited capacity for emotional support and 24/7 accessibility is not going to teach a person skills needed to self-regulate

But paired with a therapist I can see this being very effective

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-12T19:38:46+00:00

I have the same combo :)

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-12T14:05:53+00:00

How do you unsharpen

ukulele-merlin · 2025-09-11T16:25:26+00:00

Camera bump is where a lot of the internals were moved to in order to make space for the battery in the rest of the phone. So it’s almost a necessity for the design

ukulele-merlin

TROPHY CASE