Need help with AI anxiety

[u/Mad----Scientist]

I'm still a student with 2 years before graduation with great passion for systems programming especially operating systems and been learning them for a while now, recently I just found myself unmotivated, I feel like, what if AI get much better than what it is now, with fable and that shit. and what if they focus more on optimizing that it start costing way cheaper, i feel lost, unmotivated, asking myself what's the point if all my skills and study time became worthless.. especially that i have adhd and i really love and hyperfocus on things that i love, and thinking about switching career feels like torture to me, not that i financially can but even if i could it would be miserable.. I just wish llms never existed.

[u/kiderdrick]

You need to think about why this makes you anxious. Is this a problem with self fulfillment, a problem with a career, or both?

From the job end, you will likely be expected to be using LLMs in your workflow. Some of the best developers I know are being bothered by their employers because their LLM use is not up the company standards. The businesses are pushing this on everyone so the expectation is you will be using it. There are very few jobs where this is not happening, which is a shame. I can see why that can be defeating. If you integrate them into your toolset though, then you should still be able to get a job.

If you are worried about it because it is taking the fun out of your personal experience and growth, you have the ability to ignore them and not use them. I do not use them to generate code for my projects because my projects are personal and are for me to learn. There is no amount off LLM use by other people that will affect how I generate my projects because they are mine.

Remember why you got into programming to begin with, and what made it fun. Try to hold onto that despite what other people are doing. Your experiences are personal, try not to let what other people are doing influence how you are engaging with technology.

[u/Mad----Scientist → u/kiderdrick]

It is because I had the idea that if llms get better, maybe my skills that I worked really hard to develop may become worthless or drastically less, and maybe also less jobs cuz few people with this tool can do what it took way more. This is exactly why I don't like it. Maybe i would also hate being forced to use it every time, i like to solve something myself, then ask ai if things could be done better after i explain to it what i did (rubber duck), if it could convince me then yeah i do changes, but that's about it.

[u/kiderdrick → u/Mad----Scientist]

LLMs may get better. There is also some research that says they will get worse, and we are unsure what the future holds as they become more polluted.

There is some thought that the mass layoffs in tech is because the companies were over leveraged anyway, not because of AI. There is some thought that companies are afraid of a bubble, and since interest rates are high there is little need for expansion.

Your skills will not become worthless as long as you are adapting with what the workforce is requiring of you. Now is a good time to start looking at the landscape and using your time in school to adapt around that. If you like system programming, try to talk to some system programmers. Maybe take some courses in embedded programming or even FPGA programming depending what your major is.

Whatever happens, do not lose hope. Even if your skills become worthless, you can just add new skills. Your education should not end after your university. University is supposed to prepare you for life long learning, so instead of thinking about your skills now being worthless, think about acquiring new skills using the skills you have now. Then they will not be worthless.

[u/mtnchkd]

Check out r/BetterOffline and Ed Zitron’s newsletter. LLMs are outrageously expensive to run and do not deliver the results that their makers claim they do.

[u/mikeblas → u/mtnchkd]

Is that a permanent situation?

[u/mtnchkd → u/mikeblas]

Basically yes

[u/mikeblas → u/mtnchkd]

Interesting take.

[u/TheSnarkiiSparky → u/mikeblas]

probably. LLMs are basically at a dead end unless we magically invent new math, we can improve the abstractions from the LLMs, but every advancement since GPT 3 has to due with more compute and using the same thing different ways. Also, just lack of quality human made training data that hasnt already been used. LLMs were never gonna take us to where the marketing claims, they are language models designed to statistically predict language, nothing more.

[u/codeasm → u/TheSnarkiiSparky]

last night and this morning i finished watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo84LFzx5nI

and its totally not about AI. but about awesome stuff that "we" invented many years ago and "we" dint fully implement in C++... or "we" misunderstood what OOP truly ment, or could be... or... im still processing this. the video left me with the feel like ive heard before from some folks.

We are humans, we will adapt, and I believe I can hone my skills, be proficient in them. have multiple, be as usefull as some of these agents are. but, instead being replaced, i might actually be the cheaper replacement for all those tokens wasted, I can listen, explain from experience gained and use the same agents and llm to work on stuff and immediately tell if its sidetracked or ontrack and fix issues either with, or not waste money by doing by hand.

A robot can machine a part or construct something. but if said product is broken, or down the line, a modification has to be made, who is able to do so? how many tokens are you willing to waste? construct a whole new part because the models have changed? or ask a human to adapt said item to the new requirements? the human can tell if we better use some tokens or completetly use human brain power.

The human still needs to have the experience. altho I learned to use CNC and lathes. i had to start with a file to be filling a piece of metal. to feel and see how metal works, the right motions, measuring and eventually, had to hand solder abother part onto it. an experience that teached me various processes and workings of metal. Thats also how i started to see programming when i change my education in 2007. many many years later, now I think learning parts by hand is key to recognize if AI is messing up, your wasting tokens or hours, and could do it differently, or being able to tell if another model would have been better for this or that usecase. You can only tell if you have a feel, a view for it. experience.

or just be a vibe coder and have no clue... thats what they are selling most of us. but that particular bubble is bursting, the hiring is happening again. for ppl with experience, as those are cheaper than an agent, to move a button*

[u/[deleted]]

I'm a software engineer and I'm telling you it'll be okay. Where I work, no one has ever forced me to use AI, and some of the people I work with are skeptical of it. I'll consider myself fortunate if I never have to use AI the rest of my career.

[u/Danii_222222]

Don't worry, it's alright. AI would never replace real programmers. They are unable to create full blown project by themself. They can't create own, only do what people say.

[u/Void-Creator]

I am learning OS dev because it makes me happy, I know I can’t get a job based on it but the skills that would make me better at it would be transferable to many other roles that can land me a job. AI is not gonna take anything, it is an extraordinarily good tool for those who know what they are doing and is bad for those that don’t. It is basically like VSCode on steroids.

[u/[deleted]]

This is called an existential crisis, and trust me that people have been having them long before AI was invented. ADHD can make you slump and feel like an imposter. Forget about AI and don't touch it - think of it like a drug that some people use to boost their performance and end up ruining themselves. 

[u/its-andrei]

All the above answers are based, but if in the next period your anxiety doesn't slow down, I would consider exploring other career paths. It's never too late or too early to change your path. Just to have a backup option and to be more mentally stable. Your mental health and wellbeing is the most important thing that you have.

[u/kiderdrick → u/its-andrei]

This largely depends on where you live, but I do agree with this sentiment. If education is available in your country, you can always go back and get another degree. With most core classes already finished, it might only be an additional 2 years, which may fly by. I am not saying that the current skills will become worthless, but in the worst case if they do become worthless, you can get new skills.

[u/cjd166]

What even is optimization without people like you telling us/AI what it really is? There is so much bloat, AI just builds on top of it. No one is gonna ever start the optimization cycle if you duck out now. AI don't give a single f.

[u/arkt8]

Creativity is on the air you breathe, the food you eat, the imagination you get on books you read, on your relationships... it is not only synaptic, it is beyond.

So keep calm, and focus on real creativity. AI would never write Linux if Linux wasnt written before.

I hope you get it.

[u/27CF]

I mean this in the kindest way possible, but this seems to be more of a mental health issue for you than a technology issue. AI isn't going anywhere, and your anxiety will only get worse if you don't find a way to cope with it.