The I Feel Down Topic.

[Matt N]

I haven’t got anything that serious that I’m feeling down about today, but I would just appreciate some more rational people talking me down this morning.

As many of you will know, I started my first full-time role out of university just over a month ago. It’s in a Data and Insights team helping to develop data-based web apps using Python, SQL and other technologies, including the Python web framework Django which has been interesting to learn. It’s sort of a mix between a data analyst role and a software development role. I’m really enjoying the work, everybody is really friendly, and overall, it’s just been a wonderful first month that I’ve really enjoyed! This is definitely work I could see myself doing and enjoying long term.

However, I had a good read through some AI-related subreddits on Reddit this morning… and I’m now feeling a bit depressed. Everyone is talking on there about how “AI is coming for your job”, how “programming, software and data are going to be some of the worst hit fields”, how “junior developer roles are becoming completely redundant” and how “the singularity could come as soon as next year”. And it does make me wonder; have I chosen a terrible field to go into? Have I entered the workforce years too late to make a career in data/software development? I’ve done a BSc in Computer Science and an MSc in Data Science and Analytics, I’ve always found programming and data analysis interesting, and I’m loving my job so far, but reading stuff like this online does make me wonder; have I made a terrible long-term career choice with AI progressing like it has been?

Fundamentally, I fear deep down that I’m not high enough up in my job to be irreplaceable by AI in the long term. I’ve received seemingly positive feedback from my line manager and colleagues so far, but will that be enough to prevent my job from being AI’d away? Everyone online is talking about how “only senior data and programming roles are valuable now”, and it scares the hell out of me.

Are my worries valid?

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Are my worries valid?

Yes and no.

Google Translate has been around for quite a while now, translators are not out of business.

Everyone now pretty much has a cinema, or higher, quality camera in their pocket. Photographers and videographers are not out of business.

Sage, Excel, QuickBooks, etc, have been around for thirty years, there are still accountants and finance people.

The tech world are in a panic because for the first time in their history, jobs which looked as though they'd be a dead certainty for years to come are now being challenged. Shibboleths are being broken.

You've chosen a pivotal time for the industry, but it's not a bad one. It's a time of opportunity. Low level grunt coders are probably going to go, but you will still need someone to check over the generated output (both code and programme output). Someone will need to write and maintain the systems.

One final factor, in this quick pep talk, is that very few people end up doing the exact same job for their entire career. You will learn new skills, in addition to the extremely desirable and transferable skills you have now. Most importantly, you understand how these systems work. You are in a perfect position to be able to get the most proficient and optimal use out of them. In your current job you tell a computer what to do in a language which isn't native. You'll soon be able to tell it what to do in your native tongue. That's really the only change. You'll be fine. I'll tell you when you're not.