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Ask HN: Alternative Careers in the Age of AI

12 points by helpfulmandrill ↗ HN
I'm about to lose my job to AI and offshoring - a job that started well, but which I ended up less than ecstatic about. I'm wondering - what else can a software developer do that isn't also vulnerable to AI? Whenever you Google this, you get things like "Manager", "Product Manager" etc., but it strikes me that if software engineering is decimated by AI then many of these roles may be next in line - as is most "pure" knowledge work.

So I'm asking, what is the escape hatch? Do we all become plumbers? Anyone have a plan?

9 comments

[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 12.8 ms ] thread
softwaredoug
I think it’s important to have some kind of domain knowledge that goes with software ability. Not just be a software engineer.

The closest comparison to what’s happening today is writing. In olden times a few in the professional class could write. It was not a common skill. Now everyone can write. There are technically more “jobs that involve writing” and writing skills CAN help you succeed. But very few people have a job just writing.

What people do have are domain specific jobs where a writing skill is more useful. Journalism, Industry analyst, etc.

The future won’t be some small set of software engineers focused only on functional code, it’ll be domain-knowledgeable people that plan out domain solutions, write, code, all in one role.

world2vec
Unironically: growing citrus fruits in your own land with your own water source.
kadhirvelm
I still feel like we're on track for more and more products to become undifferentiated and degrade in quality over time, if we keep this up. I think we'll rebound the other way at some point and the folks who've always been super valuable, the people who can work up and down the product from customer calls to design to engineering, will become even more valuable over time. Aka, these are the people who can differentiate your company from generic AI
drumih
I'm a software developer. I didn't exactly lose my job to ai, but I was moved to part-time because now I need only review ai PRs. Even worse, I'm on a visa.

I've always thought about a career in welding. It's a real job that requires a lot of real skills and can be quite lucrative if you're qualified enough. There are a lot of different directions, from welding custom exhausts for cars to industrial underwater welding. It sounds exciting to me.

bschwarz
Has safety tech progressed enough to avoid permanent vision damage by now?