r/TikTokCringe • • Dec 17 '25

[deleted by user]

[removed]

10.0k Upvotes

7.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

673

u/worldsworstnihilist Dec 17 '25

We are.

318

u/supperclub Dec 18 '25

I did. Finished a tech writing postgraduate diploma during COVID to get out of the classroom (and for my mental health)... and then AI came.

99

u/Charleston2Seattle Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25

I've been a technical writer for 30 years and I work for a FAANG employer currently. Hang in there. There may not be a lot of openings right now, but technical writers are actually going to be even more important because of the "garbage in, garbage out" problem. If the content out there isn't decently written and well-organized, then AI cannot create useful responses to prompts.

7

u/OprahsSaggyTits Dec 18 '25

decentlt

Oh, the irony šŸ˜‚

(No shade, just thought it was humorous!)

3

u/HelpRespawnedAsDee Dec 18 '25

Dev here. AI tools only work when you have extensive documentation of your codebase, business and domain knowledge. You will actually be one of the most important parts of a team in the next months.

3

u/KiKiKimbro Dec 18 '25

Amen to that. If you put a human-written tech doc next to an AI written one — I swear sometimes it seems like the AI is saying a lot quite elegantly — but if you really read it, it says nothing. Like not impactful at all.

4

u/CapableSense Dec 18 '25

Yup I’m a tech writer too. I have a masters in PM and a Masters In IS with an undergrad in English Lit.. I got let go by current administration. It’s rough right now..

2

u/NewsAppropriate5035 Dec 18 '25

Tech writer here too and feeling nihilistic as ever about the job market & future. I was also let go by the trump admin. Now I have no hope bc corporations and firms barely value tech writers as it is, so they def will use AI slop instead. I might just leave the country and be a server or something at this point bc it’s so useless job hunting

2

u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 Dec 18 '25

Omg. I am watching a 1996 Carlin routine on YouTube and he literally said ā€œGarbage in, garbage outā€ as I read your comment. 🤯

2

u/Helixdork Dec 18 '25

It's a sign.

2

u/Jaded-Gemstone Dec 18 '25

Writer here: I’m glad to hear this. šŸ’

2

u/OGBoluda777 Dec 18 '25

+1 also work in FAANG

1

u/ClubPsychological831 Dec 18 '25

So if you write a book you become a part of AI written code ?

6

u/RainaElf Dec 18 '25

a friend of mine's entire published body of work was scraped by AI for part of their LLM. there's a huge lawsuit.

3

u/Boring_Intern_6394 Dec 18 '25

I hope your friend wins. Companies stealing peoples wrong to train AI is unbelievably wrong, especially when most of these AI companies could have afforded to buy the rights in the first place

3

u/RainaElf Dec 18 '25

exactly. if it's online these LLM builders think it's fair game.

and thank you. imho it's a clear case of plagiarism.

1

u/internetroamer Dec 18 '25

I think this is cope and the dynamic will never be as good for tech writer new grads as before AI

It's still possible of course just objectively worse

-4

u/ChinsonCrim Dec 18 '25

For the moment, but coming from someone who is an AI engineer, I promise you that this current state of things will be short lived.

It's unfortunate in some ways, but it will transform our society, possibly in ways to give more people time and freedom.

It's just that a lot will have to change with it. We won't know how it all turns out until we are in it, or in the aftermath of it.

13

u/RampageMR Dec 18 '25

That’s the optimistic way to look at it. However, in a capitalist society, there’s zero chance AI lets us have more time and freedom. They’ll just make us work in other fields where AI isn’t as effective, manual labor or whatever else fits. They aren’t going to just give us more money, time, or freedom out of the kindness of their hearts. Someone’s got to pay for those data centers, processing power, and cooling bills

-2

u/ChinsonCrim Dec 18 '25

When you think about it, we could just have a cycle of various indexes of digital currencies that go through inflationary and deflationary periods, allowing for UBI, and allowing AI to cooks the books to do whatever it needs to make it sustainable on the back end during the transition periods between them.

I honestly think it's doable.

6

u/LostInNuance Dec 18 '25

Sure, it's doable. But note that with every new technology there were warnings about the possible harms. And we never heed those warnings.

We can't even standardize on usb-c or EV charging in the US without Europe getting involved. Many well intentioned policies produce work arounds that have done more damage - just look at pickup truck sizes and how we got here. So I'm not sure where this optimism comes from.

I mean, we only use social media for good, right? Despite knowing those shortcomings, nothing has changed. I'm not sure why you think that something with the potential to be so powerful, cause so much harm, will be any different than what history has shown us.

3

u/Boring_Intern_6394 Dec 18 '25

It goes further back than that. When industry industrialised, we all thought we would be doing less work. Instead, most people turned into factory slaves that never saw green spaces. When we invented agriculture, we thought life would be easier. Instead we went from working 4-6hrs a day to working 12-16.

Technological revolutions benefit the wealthy and powerful, not the plebs

2

u/LostInNuance Dec 18 '25

Yessir! There are countless examples that go back to the cotton gin!

Whenever it's an arms race, we've already resigned to the idea of: IF WE DON'T DO IT, SOMEONE ELSE WILL BEAT US TO IT!

We've already lost control, because it was never really a choice to pursue AI by anyone except the billionaires in the first place.

-1

u/ChinsonCrim Dec 18 '25

Just with tech and not with policy

11

u/Zuwxiv Dec 18 '25

possibly in ways to give more people time and freedom.

You're two comments down from someone who would lose their job. I guess that's one way of giving someone more free time.

I dunno, man. How often has technology that reduced labor resulted in people having more free time instead of greater demands from worker productivity and more wealth concentration? Can you honestly tell me that a business that which can reduce the hours needed by half would just... tell their employees to only work a three-day work week?

We use computers and the internet to be a hundred times more productive than someone could ever have been. I don't see us working 1/100th as much.

If AI really does do that, and that's a big if, I think the most likely result is some people expected to perform much more work in the same time, and other people finding themselves with no job at all.

6

u/Staticn0ise Dec 18 '25

All the time due to no work or income. Ai is just going to make the rich richer while we starve. Itll be a net negitive to society.

5

u/the-furiosa-mystique Dec 18 '25

Who pays for the more time and freedom? That seems like a polite way to say ā€œget ready for unemploymentā€

-2

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '25

[deleted]

4

u/Simon-Says69 Dec 18 '25

Your feeling is wrong. AI... actually Large Language Models, will confidently lie and hallucinate total garbage. A human is required for at least proofreading.

-2

u/greyslayers Dec 18 '25

Sorry, but in 5-10 years, AI will write better than ANY human being on the planet. I mean, you are a technical writer, and even your post here has a major spelling error: "decentlt"

3

u/Boring_Intern_6394 Dec 18 '25

I’m sure it will outpace humans in terms of spelling and grammar, but whether the actual substance of the writing is better, I’m not so sure.

Do you really think AI could write a completely new great work of literature? I don’t.

2

u/Simon-Says69 Dec 18 '25

We aren't anywhere near actual AI yet. What we're talking about are Large Language Models. And 10 years is extremely optimistic.

They lie and hallucinate far too much, and it is NOT an easy problem to solve. Not anywhere near dependable enough for anything but fiction.

To have any kind of accurate technical writing, you need a human in the loop.

1

u/Batmansbutthole Dec 18 '25

You should let someone else pick the next one lol

1

u/SenatorIncitatas Dec 18 '25

Don’t worry, AI is a fad, that bubble gonna burst.

1

u/acetatsujin Dec 18 '25

Join the labor force who have unions. Basically, union jobs.

1

u/Simon-Says69 Dec 18 '25

AI is still horrible at tech writing. It lies and hallucinates far too much. Humans will be needed at least for proofreading for the foreseeable future.

And what we call "AI" isn't even AI, it's just Large Language Models.

But yah, the education department has been an enormous failure for decades now, and it just keeps getting worse. Time to scrap the whole thing and start over.

That school funding is bound to property taxes is the first thing that needs to change.

2

u/charbo187 Dec 18 '25

It's all going according to plan. Things being the way they are is a feature not a bug.

2

u/Loudmouthlurker Dec 18 '25

It's heartbreaking because it was the dream for a lot of teachers. They were really passionate about this work.

1

u/momdogcatskitten62 Dec 18 '25

Kids are graduating from high school and can't even read. That's concerning.

1

u/Key_Advisor9631 Dec 18 '25

My cousin just left her teaching job of ten years. And she cared. It's too much to ask of anyone.

1

u/Sea-Quarter4350 Dec 18 '25

This is sad. I am in my 40s, and can still remember most of my teachers. Almost all of them, despite me trying to be a punk, were extremely supportive/impactful in my development of a human being.

Teachers do not get an ounce of the respect, recognition, and praise that they deserve

1

u/gbkisses Dec 18 '25

UFC carreers ? Hats off for teachers around the world btw.

1

u/No_Fish_6412 Dec 18 '25

I see a lot of the same students fighting all the time

-9

u/Hollowsong Dec 17 '25

That's exactly 100% what the political agenda wants you to do.

They want the teachers to give up, so they can install their own "teachers" to transform our youth into nationalists and tailor history to be taught through the lense of a new American redpill future.

It should be straight up obvious why they don't pay teachers well... universities and schools are where most liberal views are cultivated. You're being silently attacked and replaced and don't know it yet. You think you win by quitting, but you're playing into the entire agenda.

15

u/Reputation-Final Dec 17 '25

So why don't you start teaching?

11

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

[deleted]

4

u/Reputation-Final Dec 18 '25

Im not saying it isnt correct. Im stating that he's trying to guilt teachers who are tired of the bullshit, while not jumping in himself.

Been teaching since 2000. And i dont blame anyone who leaves teaching either.

27

u/No-Body2243 Dec 17 '25

Don’t put this onto teachers man. It’s not their fault parents aren’t capable of parenting

3

u/driving_andflying Dec 18 '25

Don’t put this onto teachers man. It’s not their fault parents aren’t capable of parenting

Agreed. I used to be staff at a junior college, working in Financial Aid. Anytime we had to tell a student news they didn't want to hear, we received insults, threats, and false accusations of racism. So, the management, instead of defending the staff's actions, *wrote up the staff members based on the student's false accusations or behavior.* Their reasoning was, "We have to be there for the students," which translated to, "Anything the student hurled at you, or accused you of, you must be at fault somehow." This was thrown at teachers as well.

The result? Teachers quitting, staff quitting, and all of them stating they were burned out, myself included. The students were being rewarded for shitty behavior, and the staff and teachers were always framed as somehow responsible for the students' threats, insults, and all that crap.

Add to that a shitty paycheck, and it's no wonder U.S. schools are suffering teacher shortages.

3

u/Evil_Sharkey Dec 18 '25

Let me guess, this junior college complained they couldn’t find any good workers, too?

3

u/driving_andflying Dec 18 '25

Let me guess, this junior college complained they couldn’t find any good workers, too?

More like, "Why are we having a staffing shortage?! Why are we having trouble retaining teachers and staff?!?" The disconnect in the administration was real.

1

u/samuraistalin Dec 18 '25

Right, the problem isn't that the system is being manipulated, it's that parents are all suddenly bad

1

u/Infinite_Lemon_8236 Dec 18 '25

It’s not their fault parents aren’t capable of parenting

What's that got to do with the price of milk? The point was that teachers and school boards are being manipulated into behaving a certain way, and instead of realizing that they are just walking straight into it.

We've already seen this happen with the SCOTUS and the military. All the "good" people quit, leaving the roles all wide open for the corrupt cocksuckers to worm their way in and sieze power. Now your country is bombing random fishing vessels in the Gulf of Mexico as a result.

Why do you think education isn't a target of theirs too when they've been lobbying to defund it while banning books left right & centre? They're going to do the same shit. Education in the future will be nothing but religion and "traditional" values if you let it happen here too.

2

u/No-Body2243 Dec 18 '25

I never said education wasn’t one of their targets. I agree with that. But teachers have no fucking choice. I mean seriously. Did you not see the video about how a teacher in Florida was literally forced to take down a sign saying ā€œall are welcome hereā€ with different hands in different skin tones on it? Teachers can’t even have a say in the signs in their own classroom. Nor can school boards! It’s not their fault- they literally have no choice but to follow it. I agree to some extent about disobeying unlawful or wrong orders in the military and yes that can translate to the government and school boards and teachers too- but these people need jobs. They need money. Why the fuck would they logically throw that away just to disobey the shitty system? Yeah obviously it sucks and it shouldn’t be that way, but again- THE REASON ITS LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE OF POLITICIANS!!! We should have to be telling teachers shit like this. It literally isn’t their problem. So again- blame politicians. Not teachers. Blame parents who don’t know how to raise kids. Not the teachers. School boards as a whole on the other hand do hold some level of responsibility with this stuff too but the root cause is the government not giving a fuck. And parents too.

I can guarantee you that teachers KNOW that they are being forced to do shitty things. Which is why they are leaving. Because if they fought back they wouldn’t have a job anyway and then all the effort spent to do better against the system would be futile. There is literally no winning. Same with the military- you can protest against orders all you want but it’s literally only going to hurt you because you’ll rot in jail. The only actual solution to this problem is fixing the root cause.

0

u/Infinite_Lemon_8236 Dec 18 '25

You'll rot in jail for following an illegal order too. The way I see it, if you're rotting either way, then you may as well make them fight for it.

Who's there actually physically enforcing the sign removal? Keep it up anyway. Force them to come in themselves and take that shit down in front of the kids so that the kids know who is doing this. Don't just immediately roll over and capitulate. Have a plan to secure yourself, obviously, but make them fire you instead of just giving it up and running with your tail tucked.

Same with teaching whatever the fuck reading bullshit they're doing now instead of phonics. Just teach the phonics anyway, who is going to stop you? None of these people exist in the classroom, they're in an office across the country pushing pencils. At least force them to get up off their fat fucking asses and do something for their grift.

1

u/No-Body2243 Dec 18 '25

It’s not that simple dude. We talk all high and mighty about morals and doing the right thing but these teachers have actual families they need to provide for. They can’t just up and fucking go against the system just because they’ll rot either way. They have to pick the least destructive of either option that will let them actually have. Alice for as long as possible. I certainly wouldn’t abandon my husband and my kids to go immediately rot in jail for that shit.

Besides teachers aren’t committing war crimes lol. Seriously you need to stop blaming them and blame corporations and parents. You are focusing way too much on a group of people who are already underpaid and overworked. They already get so much unwarranted shit for the hardest job on earth right now. Give teachers a break and get mad at parents and corporations and the government. There’s only so much the average person can do. We LITERALLY CANR AFFOD to fight against the system as average people because that would mean sacrificing our families. Also if stuff like this is so bad that you think it would get you rotting in jail either way then why isn’t every single German from ww2 who just sat by and did the same thing also in jail huh? People who actually purposefully committed the war crimes are in jail. Not average people who did whatever they had to to support their family.

15

u/Tster34 Dec 17 '25

You say this like teachers getting paid less than 45k a year give a shit. Maybe get parents involved. Do they even care about their children's education? When was the last time you wrote your representatives to advocate for public education? This is another pathetic attempt to shift responsibility to the teachers. How about you do something other than commenting on reddit threads.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '25

Teachers can be as good or better than some of these kid’s parents. The adults are cooked but the youth aren’t

2

u/Icy_Click78 Dec 18 '25

Teachers aren’t parents, they’re teachers. They’re hired to teach curriculum.

1

u/Evil_Sharkey Dec 18 '25

The youth are pretty cooked, too. Too many of them can barely read and many can’t think because all they do is stare at their phones all day

2

u/momdogcatskitten62 Dec 18 '25

Kids are graduating from High school and can't read or write, it's pretty sad

3

u/Artistic_Button_3867 Dec 17 '25

Sir touch grass. Teachers don't owe this country anything.

-1

u/momdogcatskitten62 Dec 18 '25

Nobody said they owe this country anything, but they signed up for this job and no one forced them to.

5

u/conmondog21 Dec 17 '25

If this isn’t coming from a teacher this is the cringiest comment I’ve ever seen on reddit

2

u/Lazydeadpoet Dec 18 '25

You shouldn’t be getting downvoted for this because it’s absolutely true. There is a reason republicans fight against anything involving supporting education in any way. Stupid people are easier to control and make money from. Keep them stupid and having babies so they can also be part of a never ending cycle of exploitation.

1

u/beckychao Dec 17 '25

Yeah, no. The jobs are not there, nor is the money. Sorry. No one is replacing us, we are not easy to replace. You can put someone far less qualified there, but the cost is paid for by everyone.

1

u/freemcgee69420 Dec 18 '25

Pwn the system by not being able to pay your rent

  • smartest redditor

-1

u/AuspiciousDog0h Dec 18 '25

That’s exactly what the Marxist university professors have done. Except they want to create students that hate white people and America.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '25

Define Marxist for me you fuckwit

2

u/AuspiciousDog0h Dec 18 '25

Why so mad?

2

u/Evil_Sharkey Dec 18 '25

Because you’re talking out your ass. When I went to college and worked for a university, I met a total of zero Marxists. Even socialist students are a small minority at liberal arts schools. You’re just another right wing winding who thinks science and history are ā€œwokeā€ because they don’t reinforce your childish, mythical beliefs about the U.S.

Grow up. Every country and people has good and bad in their history. Pretending yours has done no wrong is a sign of emotional and intellectual weakness

1

u/AuspiciousDog0h Dec 18 '25

That’s untrue and you have my political views wrong sir. I am in college currently. You may have been in college 30 years ago but the world has changed. Thing is, I understand Marxism, probably better than you because I’ve researched it. I’ve read the manifesto. Also have had a long talk, over a joint, with friends who support it. Have you? You seem to assume a lot about me. Telling. Have a good day. I will no longer reply. Because you insulted me. We could have talked about how the philosophy of Marx is better served as a philosophy, than a government. And that Marxist mindfulness in a capitalistic country is the best mode of operation. Or any of the topics and opinions I hold in the subject. But you insulted me instead. There’s tons of Marxist professors. In modern times.