GlyphI am writing a blog post about why it is bad to use AI. It is extremely heavily sourced. I have a tedious automation problem formatting my citations. No problem, I think. I will write a computer program. The computer program does not work, because websites are blocking simple computer programs in an effort to block AI. Solution? Simple. Browser comes with AI embedded, browses like a human, has all my cookies. Just ask the AI. It sails through the primitive anti-AI measures easily.
mcc@glyph When I think about "AI" I often think about how we had cities built to be navigated by people, and then we rebuilt the cities to be more easily navigated by cars, and now people without cars can't navigate the cities because we specifically designed them to require cars
Faye@mcc @glyph @mhoye I had that argument with a previous employer over mob programming.
They were trying to make everyone do it, it was burning some of us out.
Their response was “you can just not do it and the rest of the team will do it without you”.
Well, oh Einstein of managers, what do you think is going to happen when all the tools and communication structures the team uses assume mob programming, just like is required to do it properly? It’s not a real option to just not engage. You’ve just forced several of your staff out of a job because it was that or burning them out within weeks, and you’ve managed to paint it as their fault.
Ever since then I’ve been incredibly cynical about any “cultural shifts”. If it’s optional then it’s totally not optional they just don’t want to take the responsibility.
Arakin@FayeDrake I've been fortunate to avoid mob programming so far - it's hard enough not to get drowned out in a meeting whilst the more extroverted (or desperate to show their value as the employer pushed competition for advancement) dropped suggestions in a stream of consciousness. 🙃
Tho I had fab experiences with pair programming as we were working on a simulator which had a comfy car seat and a projected view of the world up front. This view was driven by the same machine we developed on, so inevitably we would end up with the "subject" (another dev during testing) being able to comfortably observe the changes and collaborate. I think it also helped that you didn't have someone literally over your shoulder and talking into your ear 😅
(And now I remember that this workstation did this all with its 256MB of RAMBus memory 😅)
@arakin yeah… that was essentially the argument I had.
We had certain individuals who talked without gaps, and when confronted by others responded by saying they needed to do this to think. When it was posited that maybe other people needed space to think, and the opportunity to contribute, the response was that this was our problem. Because letting people talk as much as they like is easy, but making sure all needs are met is hard and requires effort and skill. And acknowledges that the majority of engineers can’t just pick this up from first principles.
I do not feel like I’m emotionally intelligent, but I’m told I am. I think it’s because I’ve spent a tonne of sleepless nights working out why this sort of thing is bullshit and how to explain that to people. And when that fails, putting myself in a position to veto it.
Fortunately, I am the senior engineer now, and at least for the time being I have enough clout to tell people to fuck off when they start trying lazy and toxic bullshit like that.
@arakin but yeah, pair programming is amazing as long as you get two people who are trying in good faith to work together and lift each other up rather than making it an ego thing
Roger Lipscombe@FayeDrake @arakin I've not tried mob programming, but my experience with pair programming is that - even if you get the right personalities, and even if it's working well - it's kinda intense, and you shouldn't expect to be able to sustain it for long periods.
@rogerlipscombe @arakin that’s totally valid
That said, my definition of good practice in pair programming involves consciously aiming to keep focus time to roughly the same as you’d get while solo programming. If I don’t spend enough time dossing off and tension relieving then I find I burn out pretty quickly too.
@rogerlipscombe @arakin gonna be honest, I do find pairing enjoyable and effective but the only reason I have opinions about this at all is so I can face down people who have extreme views and want to force them on the whole team.
At the end of the day we all got to work in the way which is most effective for us. But middle management do so like to come in and apply the latest fad.