Em 
If you want to hire someone with a guarantee that they will not be using any AI in their work, let me know, I'm still available (and semi-looking).
More information on the types of work I'm looking for on my profile page pinned post 
Andrew Zonenberg@Em0nM4stodon can't offer a FTE position but may be able to scare up some budget for ngscopeclient documentation work if that's of interest.
Would you be interested in occasional small contract work for open source docs? What's your rate if so?
@azonenberg At the moment I'm more looking for a full-time position, and I'm not set up to accept small contracts outside of Canada (yet), but that might change later depending on opportunities.
Mjurn@Em0nM4stodon Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. With other words, learn it, even if you don't like it. You will end up like everyone who refused computers in the 90s.
Em :official_verified: (@[email protected])
I'm not using any LLM or "AI" for anything that I write or draw. Never had, and never will. I'm making this choice because: • This technology was built by unethically stealing the hard work of millions without any consent or compensation. • This technology has and is still constantly scraping data, including personal data, from people without their knowledge or consent, in complete disregard of the privacy laws we have to protect us. • This technology unnecessarily uses vast amounts of energy in a world where using more energy sadly usually means more pollution. • This technology is working on devaluating labor in order to enrich even more the already rich, aggravating poverty everywhere. • This technology is misleadingly being sold as a solution to problems it cannot solve. • This technology is supercharging disinformation and manipulation online, centralizing an incredible power of influence in the hands of a few controlling billionaires. • This technology is increasingly being used by authoritarian governments in order to surveil and control the people. • This technology atrophies our creativity and capability to think, as well as harming our social relationships. • This technology makes my writing voice feel flat and boring. I'd rather learn to live with my human tipos. • This technology... #NoAI
@Em0nM4stodon Just and advice of course but I'm pretty sure we all have to eventually. If it's going to be anything like the computer and internet boom, those who don't adapt will be left behind. Take care, 🍻
ocdtrekkie@Mjurn @Em0nM4stodon For what it's worth, people not getting in on the ground floor of cryptocurrency can still buy stuff. Fads come and fads go.
Also, even if AI is like "computers" or "the Internet", it is getting easier to use/better at doing the right thing with less effort. So it will, if anything, be even easier to start using later than it is now. The idea one will get "left behind" is quite silly.
@ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon People said the same thing 30 years ago. I'm not saying you're wrong, but within 5 to 10 years, the industry will change so much that automated hiring systems will filter you out if you don't know how to use this. You don't need to be an expert, but it will be a mandatory skill.
With so many open-source alternatives available to configure, it's really just another tool. Refusing to adapt is like a carpenter refusing to use a screwdriver because they only want to use a hammer.
Epic Null@Mjurn @ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon If I may point out: there are a lot of biases in that premise. Plenty of people and companies are doing well today despite (or because of) delaying or refusing to adopt computers in the 90s. It's not something obvious because the consumer often does not interact with them directly.
A doctor's office that never had a data breach does not make the news.
A farm that sends paper invoices does not draw attention.
A store with a mechanical cash register is notable, but hardly memorable. You probably would not blink to find you need a physical check for some large purchases.
Also those automated hiring systems have been shown to discriminate on race, age, and gender https://sanfordheisler.com/blog/ai-bias-in-hiring-algorithmic-recruiting-and-your-rights/, so I would hardly consider the applicant as the one that needs to adapt.
@Epic_Null @ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon Good point and I agree to some extent. My point is that it's only about 3 years that AI has been used. Many of the companies who choose to not go online or use computers went bankrupt or had to adapt. H&M is a good example of that, the owner said that they had to big irl presence, stores around the world in every city so he said we dont need to. The stock tanked, they made a deal with Alibaba and built an online store and the stock went up again. That's the one I know of but there are a lot more stories like that.
It's true that there are loads of issues with AI, but those are fixable and we actually dont know what it's capable of in the long term. Changes, new technology etc. As of now, you can do totally fine without using it. 10 to 20 years from now, I'm not so sure.
@Mjurn @ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon I would caution heavily against using stock price as an indicator of anything other than peer pressure. Their actual profits should tell the tale, not shareholder oppinons.
@Epic_Null @ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon It depends on the company and the owners, but there are loads of other examples, it's just that's the one I can recall from memory.
H&M is a very solid company so they would have survived it if they really wanted to.
Did a quick Google search and Blockbuster, Kodak, Borders group, Polaroid, Tower Records are some of the more well known companies who extremely underestimated their market. These went down in early 2000s to 2010, internet started to go out to individuals in the 90 to 94 so if AI will be even remotely like that, 2030s I would guess a lot will change.
@Epic_Null @ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon I can also add that I'm not for the big tech AIs and the plagiarism going on there. Yet, there are projects with a different approach so I'm optimistic even if I look at the whole thing with a bit of a worried feeling.
@ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon crypto currencies are not even remotely a good comparison. Crypto is more like the change from CD and Video tapes to streaming online. Bitcoin is like pirate bay. AI is a tool you use to do things faster or for automation.
@Mjurn @Em0nM4stodon As a certified AI technical practitioner, I can tell you that using LLMs for automation is often a poor choice, because you generally want predictable, repetitive responses in automated processes, and LLMs is nondeterministic. (Things like computer vision are a bit different.) You can certainly generate more code faster with LLMs, but whether or not that is a good thing is still very much to be determined.
@Mjurn @Em0nM4stodon Ethical issues aside, there are some interesting benefits in rapid prototyping and mocking where quality is unimportant, but if you end up using LLM-generated output in production (I have), you will need to spend roughly as much time you saved writing it on reviewing and validating it.
@ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon the AI tool as we use it today has been here for how long? 2 to 3 years. It took 20 to 30 years for the internet to happen, and then 5 to 10 years to be implemented to the public. AI is not even a toddler yet so it's way to soon to put a definitive place holder for AI.
@Mjurn @Em0nM4stodon There's a lot wrong with this comment and I could spend several responses picking it apart, but I get you're a relentless fan of the tech (I believe "AI-pilled" is the term of the month) and it's just not really worth it to engage further.
@ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon There are alternatives that are more ethical than the major once. Also, people laugh at the dreamers who talked about having a phone in their pockets in the 90s.
@ocdtrekkie @Em0nM4stodon everything continues to evolve in tech. To put it into a box of today's standard is short sighted.
David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)You will end up like everyone who refused computers in the 90s.
Promoted into management?
Learning skills later with greater longevity because they churn had reduced?
Being in high demand because they have rare skills that are hard to replace because the others with them mostly retired or died?
Being happy?
Sounds awful.
EDIT: With somewhat less snark: I have been through multiple major transitions in the industry. The web, mobile phones, various developer tools. frameworks, and practices becoming mainstream, and so on. I cannot think of a single case where being a late adopter has harmed individual career prospects. Being a very early adopter (when no one else knows what the thing is) has been a benefit for a handful of people. Being a very late adopter has been a problem for some companies. But waiting until a technology is mature and then learning to use it once has been the best strategy for individuals.
@david_chisnall @Em0nM4stodon it's a choice and as I said, just an advice. Yet, the process of hiring is not the same even this early. You will get filtered out of the tool you refuse to learn. There are open source alternatives as well so it's like refusing to use a screwdriver because you have used a hammer all your career.
Speaking as someone who is actively hiring at the moment, you are 100% wrong.
Companies that are actively pushing LLM use are not hiring, they are filling up with technical debt and losing their best people. It is a fantastic time as an employer because short-sighted fad chasing is causing the most talented people to appear on the job market.
The people who are chasing LLM tooling? Their useful skills are atrophying, their employers are making cuts, and they’re not even making the shortlists when they apply elsewhere.
william light@david_chisnall keen to read about what you're hiring for!