Adriano in Elk: "@simon they do have to feature analogues, t..."

Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.

If bosses started to say "yeah we don't need you, we just bought this table saw", yeah, I'd probably change careers.

Edit: I don't really know if I dislike this metaphor more because it belittles junior devs who suddenly face head winds in this economy, or because it belittles every ethical qualm one could possibly have against LLMs.

tables saws have their own ethical complexities - in adding to injuries, take a look at the litigation described in the history of the SawStop on Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SawStop

Are you really comparing the ethical complexities of mishandling a table saw and licensing of a specific security device for table saws to the working-as-designed ethical issues of LLMs? Really? I'm afraid I can't follow you there.

I'm comparing them a little bit, yes. Analogies don't have to be perfect to be useful.

they do have to feature analogues, though.

July 3, 2025 at 3:40:50 PM

see my comments about SawStop

I'm only saying, again, that I find your original analogy insulting to both junior devs and to experts who feel the ethical and environmental issues around LLMs unacceptable. And "no this is just like the sawstop licensing issues, also you could lose a finger" does not really mean anything.

"it's stupid to have ethical concerns so large about this that you'd feel compelled to change your career" is a hell of a take.

my post was a response to the many examples I've seen of people who have said "I don't think programming is a good career option, even though I love it, because LLMs mean we will all be out out of work"

if there are people who are considering quitting programming entirely because of their ethical concerns about LLMs I haven't heard much from them yet - is that a widespread opinion?

Replying to someone

I can hardly blame them. CEOs and the media are giving those people a lot of valid ammo to make that kind of reasoning, even if it turns out to be false.

that's why I'm pushing back! I'm trying to provide a counter-narrative

I don't think you're pushing back that much with this "analogy". Again: people who think this do so because they've been told this by industry leaders. You're saying believing this is silly. In a time of extreme economic uncertainty.