Elizabeth Ayer5d ago

I'm a big fan of this explanation/rant from Andrew Murphy.

Taken as a whole, there are many bottlenecks in a corporate software development process. The "load-bearing" calendar is a great example!

Speeding up code creation just increases pressure on the bottleneck, which decreases throughput.

https://andrewmurphy.io/blog/if-you-thought-the-speed-of-writing-code-was-your-problem-you-have-bigger-problems

If you thought the speed of writing code was your problem - you have bigger problems | Debugging Leadership

AI coding tools are optimising the wrong thing and nobody wants to hear it. Writing code was already fast. The bottleneck is everything else: unclear requirements, review queues, terrified deploy cultures, and an org chart that needs six meetings to decide what colour the button should be.

Debugging Leadership
Show threadElizabeth Ayer5d ago

So why are we still trying to optimize code creation?

For decades, people with power - executives and product people - have been shifting the blame for strategy failures and poor market insight onto development "productivity."

This AI moment should be incredibly clarifying. Like, it should be the reductio ad absurdum of a productivity-centric approach.

Show threadBig Ben5d ago
@elizayer @beep I was literally just talking to someone about #Waymo for this same reason. Tech has reached the point where it has become more than abundantly obvious to anyone who dares to ask a single question that the objective is no longer the improvement of anyone’s life but the #EpsteinClass’s. Why is taking a Waymo better than taking an Uber? Because now someone’s out of a job. Why is #AI better than a software developer? Because now someone’s out of a job
Show threadBill Seitz
@BmeBenji @elizayer @beep Waymo is a testbed for self-driving cars, which could save a lot of lives.
Apr 6 at 1:46pmWeb
Show threadBig Ben3d ago
@billseitz @elizayer @beep
I’m with @spinni81 here. The life-saving solution to car-related accidents is not automated cars, it’s extensive, more condensed public transportation.
Show threadBill Seitz3d ago

@BmeBenji I'm certainly pro density > cars (and think we need a #CarbonTax), but but for any number of cars on the road, making them self-driving will save lives.

@elizayer @beep @spinni81

Show threadTina3d ago

@billseitz
Maybe (and imho that's not a given), but to save lives you don't need to wait for AVs. There are already solutions for that. Look at Helsinki. Zero road deaths, but no AVs. Slowing down cars is probably the most effective tool but there's a lot more that can be done now.

And don't forget, Waymo's goal is not to save lives but to make money. I wouldn't bet on them.

@BmeBenji @elizayer @beep