# Linkageddon mk. X, job musings

# Linkies

## [Learn in public](https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01gq2awcektk8bxvys99b6km2g)

![Exhibitionistic Disorder - Symptoms, Causes, Types, Treatment](https://www.firstlightpsych.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Exhibitionism-Spiritual-Meaning-and-Causes-a.jpg align="left")

A great post with practical advice.

* The fastest way to learn is in public, which means **creating and sharing content related to what you are learning**.
    
* It **benefits yourself and others**, as you document your progress, get feedback, find mentors, and build an audience + overcome impostor syndrome, gain confidence, and showcase your skills.
    
* You can learn in public by **writing blogs, making videos, answering questions, teaching workshops, cloning projects, etc**.
    
* Don't be afraid of being wrong or criticized, but use it as an **opportunity to improve and prove** yourself.
    

## [Motivation is overvalued](https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01gkza4v5qchbjr6jb8asfhehd)

![Nudge Theory: how a little psychology can go a long way - Dream End State](https://www.dreamendstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nudgetheory-768x578.jpg align="center")

Classic Atomic Habits piece.

* **Motivation** and **talent** are often overvalued. **Environment** matters more in shaping human behavior and outcomes.
    
* To design a better environment for success, you can automate good decisions, get in the flow of your normal behaviors, and subtract the negative influences ⇒ nudge yourself.
    

## [Solomon's paradox in life](https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01gsz5vevd85qpv1kv1nbg2yvq/)

![King Solomon Quotes. QuotesGram](https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/1/78/374833759-lwq-q-58-king-solomon.jpg align="center")

Solomon was incredibly wise concerning others, and an oft idiot with personal affairs.

* Solomon’s paradox is the phenomenon that we are better at advising others than to ourselves.
    
* There are two types of wisdom: **general** wisdom (interpersonal) and **personal** wisdom (intrapersonal).
    
* To improve our personal wisdom, we can use self-distancing techniques such as self-talk (*Ask two questions, to start: “Why are you doing that?” and “What can you do to help?”*), journaling (*not CBT-style, just plain journaling + possibly transcribing voice notes)*, or identifying with someone else (*ask a friend or relative who they think you resemble and learn from their life experiences*).
    

## [Berserker hypothesis](https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01gs09m0n3p6dtmtw4k7fdygce)

![Matrix Revolutions — George Hull Design](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54aaff70e4b00bf98ffdc7e8/1420705275080-S6RFHUWR2PTR3IYNWN3B/hog660_1500k_geohull.jpg align="left")

is a proposed resolution to the [Fermi Paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox), which asks why we have not detected any signs of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) in the universe.

* The hypothesis suggests that ETIs have been wiped out by self-replicating machines (von Neumann probes) that were either programmed or went rogue to destroy all life they encounter.
    

# AI jobs

So, according to someone, AI is going to steal our jobs. Setting aside con, blow- and rim- (don't google that, I've just made a slide deck on kinks, I'm a professional) ones - let's speculate

## Physical

![Thumbnail Image ](https://dalleproduse2.blob.core.windows.net/private/images/a54b1f26-a02d-451e-8f40-9ce8ea326b25/00.png?se=2023-04-20T08%3A56%3A22Z&sig=adXU84ZFG2JBOe%2BSAGF9u%2Bn3WVJBdAiyA9w77YESZ2Q%3D&sp=r&spr=https&sr=b&sv=2020-10-02 align="left")

Let's be honest - while you can use an AI for some intern/junior-level jobs (web research, programming) right now, the time for it doing even home chores is yet to come: a [study had estimated ~40% of home chores being automated](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/ai-housework-gender-gap-robots/) in a decade. Yeah-yeah, we've entered the phase of self-improvement, yada yada - but still.

Let's remember the funny vids of [PaLM-E](https://palm-e.github.io/) for instance. [Boston Dynamics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKDhmENcKto) and [Halodi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gyWF43NcfA) are the epitome of what'd I see robots fit: freeing people from stressful, dangerous and mundane/routine jobs. What are we gonna do with all the displaced? I'd guess that's a cognitive bias often mentioned: as a whole, humanity will have more to do, starting with progress/education and, say, art. Or...exploring the world?

## Emotional

You can fake empathy and anthropomorphize the robot, that's what [ELIZA effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA_effect) is about. And yeah, a guy recently took his life [after an AI convinced him to do so](https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkadgm/man-dies-by-suicide-after-talking-with-ai-chatbot-widow-says) - what did I say about con jobs, again? Forget it, after getting good open-sourced LLMs we're focked, mates 🤡

![Ex Machina Wallpapers, Pictures, Images](https://www.hdwallpaper.nu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ex_machina-24.jpg align="left")

However, barring that, we've got genuine affection, touch, and attention - the things that won't be reproduced for a long time. I can presume that, after machines become sufficiently advanced and pass the uncanny valley, two camps will emerge:

* the ones who embrace and are in for feeling genuine emotions towards a robot;
    
* the 'you don't understand, it won't replace us' old (?) believers.
    

I may be genuinely wrong, and the robots will learn to express, feel or fake + we'll all *get into it* (see what I did here). Anyway, we're in for some biig ethical debates and hard decisions for some to make.

![A child-sized robot in a Japanese laboratory.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/mcs/media/images/76366000/jpg/_76366623_85805742.jpg align="center")

[*This bad boy can treat paedophilia in a day!*](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28353238)

## Teleogenesis vs initiative

Again - it's not the 'I should do X because I've got a higher-level task X\[n+1\] and it's the highest-priority task here', but 'let's do X' or 'LFG'. I may be mistaken, but human initiative/motivation is unique in the sense that it's **not just about completing a task but also about the drive to do it and the satisfaction of doing it well**. This is something that machines cannot replicate (yet).

![Blade Runner 2049 Wallpapers, Pictures, Images](https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.cOlJfAIQP6RiypxI4VQRIwHaEv?pid=ImgDet&rs=1 align="center")

*Can a machine replicate Ryan Gosling? Can it express a negative amount of emotions? Can it get critics' appraisal for its acting performance?*

## "AI" vs AI

Another thing to consider is the flood of *"do ... with AI"* products. Let's be honest, most are convenient yet fancy wrappers over, most often, OpenAI's API.

Another labeling galore incoming:

### Prompt shops

Basically, 90% of current [Product Hunt](https://producthunt.com/). Yes, they make our lives easier and leverage the latest scientific advances of AI, blah blah blah. But:

* they're usually dependent on vendor lock-in -> API changes;
    
* the results are potentially dispersed with each foundational model update;
    

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1681708714658/98ab1976-2820-4a3d-8a84-0a8af5e62ce3.png align="center")

*Something like that. Maybe, I'm a bad* [*40-second-coder.*](http://airlinepilotguy.com/40-second-boyd/)

* weak moat/defensibility
    

No defensibility in either [brand, scale, embedding or (sometimes) network effects](https://www.nfx.com/post/the-four-types-of-defensibility). No moat - such a business may get astray (or in an ashtray) with, say, MS Office's [Copilot announcement](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/03/16/introducing-microsoft-365-copilot-a-whole-new-way-to-work/).

### 'Real' AI products

Usually 'dependent' on a team of engineers/scientists. Usually not that loud in their announcements (unless it's some big-ass company running for an AGI, of course...).

![Dealing with depression as programmers - DEV Community 👩‍💻👨‍💻](https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--1tho1UnY--/c_imagga_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,h_500,q_auto,w_1000/https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bjrq40dm93vbh3p33zyc.png align="center")

*Usual AI engineer*

---

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