Well, the idea was to have a narrator who is a bit self-sabotaging in their job hunt, doesn’t notice, and blames the job market and AI. The nuance is that they are partially right on the external diagnosis, but not on the internal one, and that’s something that happens.
That’s what I mean by punching down, though. There’s no criticism of the outside factors - all the blame falls on the PoV character.
There have always been (and always will be) engineers with self-sabotaging tendencies, but with plenty to contribute nonetheless. It shouldn’t be a sentence for poverty.
The article literally starts with “In 2026, the job market is tough. AI plunged us all into economic despair” (itself exaggerated, and a play on the typical “AI doomer” clickbait articles saying what we all know more dramatically, which is another can of worms).
It shouldn’t be a sentence for poverty.
Agreed. And in the article it isn’t. He does get a job at the end.
But yeah, I can see how your reading of the article is valid. I’ll sleep on it and see if I can do something about it.
“In 2026, the job market is tough. AI plunged us all into economic despair” (itself exaggerated, and a play on the typical “AI doomer” clickbait articles […])
The choice to frame this with parody is a bit problematic, though, since it makes it sound like your piece agrees that the economic issues are wildly overblown. They are somewhat, of course, but it’s also a very difficult time for many people.
I can see how your reading of the article is valid. I’ll sleep on it and see if I can do something about it.
Thank you for the acknowledgement. Maybe I’m over-identifying with your character, but the piece hit me pretty hard in a bad way. Your empathy is really appreciated.
Well, the idea was to have a narrator who is a bit self-sabotaging in their job hunt, doesn’t notice, and blames the job market and AI. The nuance is that they are partially right on the external diagnosis, but not on the internal one, and that’s something that happens.
That’s what I mean by punching down, though. There’s no criticism of the outside factors - all the blame falls on the PoV character.
There have always been (and always will be) engineers with self-sabotaging tendencies, but with plenty to contribute nonetheless. It shouldn’t be a sentence for poverty.
The article literally starts with “In 2026, the job market is tough. AI plunged us all into economic despair” (itself exaggerated, and a play on the typical “AI doomer” clickbait articles saying what we all know more dramatically, which is another can of worms).
Agreed. And in the article it isn’t. He does get a job at the end.
But yeah, I can see how your reading of the article is valid. I’ll sleep on it and see if I can do something about it.
The choice to frame this with parody is a bit problematic, though, since it makes it sound like your piece agrees that the economic issues are wildly overblown. They are somewhat, of course, but it’s also a very difficult time for many people.
Thank you for the acknowledgement. Maybe I’m over-identifying with your character, but the piece hit me pretty hard in a bad way. Your empathy is really appreciated.
That’s a good point, yes.
No problem! Fwiw I think a lot of us identify with a lot of that character these days.