Ask HN: Alternative Careers in the Age of AI

12 points by helpfulmandrill 36 days ago | 11 comments

I'm about to lose my job to AI and offshoring - a job that started well, but which I ended up less than ecstatic about. I'm wondering - what else can a software developer do that isn't also vulnerable to AI? Whenever you Google this, you get things like "Manager", "Product Manager" etc., but it strikes me that if software engineering is decimated by AI then many of these roles may be next in line - as is most "pure" knowledge work.

So I'm asking, what is the escape hatch? Do we all become plumbers? Anyone have a plan?

softwaredoug 36 days ago |

I think it’s important to have some kind of domain knowledge that goes with software ability. Not just be a software engineer.

The closest comparison to what’s happening today is writing. In olden times a few in the professional class could write. It was not a common skill. Now everyone can write. There are technically more “jobs that involve writing” and writing skills CAN help you succeed. But very few people have a job just writing.

What people do have are domain specific jobs where a writing skill is more useful. Journalism, Industry analyst, etc.

The future won’t be some small set of software engineers focused only on functional code, it’ll be domain-knowledgeable people that plan out domain solutions, write, code, all in one role.

perrygeo 36 days ago | |

Ironically that's where I started my career and now I'm hoping to get back there. I was a data-oriented environmental scientist who happened to code. But at some point, I slipped into 100% software development roles and I never got over how strange it felt to be siloed, isolated from the domain knowledge on purpose. It was far too easy to "win" the tech struggle of the day but produce nothing of actual value.

Dedicated coders were somewhat necessary to wrangle the tech stack (which itself grew more complex to accommodate more devs, a positive feedback which nearly spun out of control in late 2010s). But now? A single coder with domain knowledge has a shot at wrangling their own tech stack as a part time job, the rest of the time focussed on IRL value. This is the future I want.

helpfulmandrill 36 days ago | |

That's a great idea, shame I don't know anything (spot the Philosophy graduate!)

kadhirvelm 36 days ago |

I still feel like we're on track for more and more products to become undifferentiated and degrade in quality over time, if we keep this up. I think we'll rebound the other way at some point and the folks who've always been super valuable, the people who can work up and down the product from customer calls to design to engineering, will become even more valuable over time. Aka, these are the people who can differentiate your company from generic AI

drumih 36 days ago |

I'm a software developer. I didn't exactly lose my job to ai, but I was moved to part-time because now I need only review ai PRs. Even worse, I'm on a visa.

I've always thought about a career in welding. It's a real job that requires a lot of real skills and can be quite lucrative if you're qualified enough. There are a lot of different directions, from welding custom exhausts for cars to industrial underwater welding. It sounds exciting to me.

leros 36 days ago | |

High skilled welding pays pretty decent too. I know people making $200k doing stuff like welding titanium at chip fabs or stainless steel at rocket factories.

bschwarz 36 days ago | |

Has safety tech progressed enough to avoid permanent vision damage by now?

world2vec 36 days ago |

Unironically: growing citrus fruits in your own land with your own water source.

helpfulmandrill 36 days ago | |

Why citrus, specifically? Are they especially profitable?

warshinder 36 days ago | | |

You can’t eat money.