I’m kind of sick of being a dev. I hate AI with a passion.
I hate the hallucinations, I hate slop, I hate megacrops, I hate the environmental impacts, I hate the massive costs. I could go on but you get the picture.
At work I often times have to review vibe code slop from people who clock in 9 to 5 and don’t give a fuck (I respect that, I just wish your fucking code wasn’t slop)
I’m sick of it, I’m sick of hearing about AI tooling or new models or bro agentic actions bro based on your documentation bro.
I want to switch careers, so which career is not ruined by AI?
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AI will never be able to throw bricks at cops. Something to consider
Do you get dental?
The settlement money from the city after I get my eyes blown out by “less lethal” rounds tends to cover it.
No :( only vision to ensure good aim
Being a kindergarten teacher is not really something that AI can help with.
You’re joking me right? I’m pretty sure this is actively happening. they’re going to put the kids in individual tubes with iPads and a toilet
Not my experience, at least not here in Norway – in fact, there’s been a pretty big backlash against the digitalization of childhood in schools and kindergartens, so I’d be very surprised if there’s any increasing pressure on us to use computers at all with the children. A colleague of mine put on some movies a handful of times in December, and even that caused some concerned messages from parents.
at least not here in Norway
At least part of the world isn’t racing to the bottom
anything that is not digital/information driven. aka fields involving blue collar work.
I’m in building maintenance. It’s not affected at all by AI. Most of the trades are safe. Basically anything which would require both advanced LLM and advanced robotics to replace.
Plumbing is fairly safe from any kind of automation and also well paid.
They do use robots for pipe inspection and minor repairs, but that’s about the extend of what the clankers will ever be able to do.
I did this 9 years ago. I make 2/3rds of what I did in software, but I don’t regret it. pivoted to environmental work. My job satisfaction is like, a thousand percent better.
Can you say any more about the type of environmental work?
toilet man
I think there will be a lot of openings for Revolutionaries. Whether you are a planner, cook, maintenance, driver, prefer to educate or provide healthcare, or if you fancy yourself a fighter, I’m sure there is a role for you!
We need a revolutionary party first to raise the funds to pay our professional revolutionaries lol.
Join us, become a tradie. Get a company vehicle. Work with your hands. Become enough of an expert in your trade that you can tell customers to go fuck themselves if they’re dicks. Have every company in the area be desperate to hire you because every trade is short handed. Work with people who barely understand the concept of a computer. Spend half of every paycheck on milwalkee packout tool boxes. Never have to work with AI again.
My preference is HVAC-R but plumber or electrician are also good choices. Building automation may seem attractive but then you’re getting close to the AI danger zone again.
And say goodbye to your knees!
A couple of thoughts on this as a union electrician: for starters AI is absolutely having an (arguably negative) impact on manpower fulfillment. In my area the massive expansion of data centers is causing a manpower shortage for all projects not funded by massive tech companies. This is complicated because it’s inflating income for tradesmen due to demand, but it’s also pressuring workers into ridiculous schedules (think 4x10s, 2x8s, and most Sundays) and is forcing contractors that aren’t running data center work to completely rework their payment structure and bid practices. Many of these sites are also a 1-2 hour commute for a large number of tradies. A lot of these guys have been gaslit for decades into thinking working more OT somehow makes them a better person.
Beyond that, while I haven’t personally seen it yet AI will absolutely begin worming its way into design; a process already riddled with issues and errors largely due to time constraints. Clients are going to want work done faster and cheaper, which will pressure design teams into using AI tools in the name of expediency, which will lead to more errors in the construction process, leading to inflated costs and likely problematic installations.
That’s not even getting into the future of AI robotics which absolutely will be impacting our tradesmen directly in the near future.
It’s coming for us too.
I’m not an electrician, but I have a relative that is. You nailed it. We’ve got a couple DCs going up near by, and he was asked to commit to a 2 year commitment for just one of them, working exactly the hours you said. He agreed because I think they are paying double time for all OT, and that’s good money. They asked if he wanted to sign on for the other DC but he declined for the obvious time reasons. It’s definitely had an effect on available workers for other projects since seemingly all hand are on deck.
I’m not familiar with the architecting process, but I can absolutely see how AI will be, if not already, involved with generating plans. It will shit something out faster than anyone could create it, but it will lose that value in review and the inevitable mistakes that make it through. AI is a cancer
Ironically, the three trades you listed are in high demand right now specifically because of the rapid rollout of the data centers needed to power AI.
i went into a dying trade in my 20s ugh and stuck with it now i’m too old to start a new one outside of maybe CDL. so yeah make sure you are physically up to it first (i am in very good shape for my age and look 10 years younger but i would be obliterated by the multiple year “break in” apprentice period again and likely would just get in a fist fight with someone trying to “break me” and destroy them and go to prison)
Maybe I just skipped it because I was a factory tech for a while but there was no “breaking” in my experience. The worst we have is a tendancy to throw aprentices into being full techs a bit too quick sometimes.
a career in poisoning AI
would be nice if i can make a living out of doing that lol
See if Haven Social are hiring?
Alas, they’re not paying for that. They’re not paying for what they need to achieve their goals either.
I’m picking up furniture making. Handcrafted furniture will always be needed
What? Ikea wrecked that a long time ago. Not that you can’t make a living but the demand isn’t high in any way whatsoever. Hand crafted furniture has become a luxury.
Hand crafted furniture has become a luxury
So you make more money selling them. I see no issues.
No issues, just become a master craftsmen and compete with other master craftsmen. Easy.
Bring back guilds.
The issue is in finding buyers who have enough money to spend on those luxury goods.
I feel like luxury goods are harder to get into in terms of career change and it’s a bit off to characterize them as always needed.
The market for high quality furniture never went away. And if we enter a global depression, a local furniture maker will again be a necessity
If we enter a depression, people will have less money to spend on luxuries. I just think the percentage of people buying hand made furniture is kind of low. I think most people “buy” them from friends and family doing it as a semi-hobby, or are rich, at least in my experience.
Not trying to be overly critical, just saying it’s not easy.
As a side note, I’ve noticed no one makes nice wooden informational kiosks with integrated touch screen even though orgs like museums would likely buy them over plastic and metal ones. Just an idea if you were looking for a niche product.
I said necessity, not luxury… If we enter a global depression, there won’t be cheap IKEA furniture anymore
Anything that’s based on physical work or human contact. Trades, medical/social work, psychology, emergency workers…
Psychology? A lot of folks are already using ai as a virtual therapist
That is the equivalent of saying “we don’t need doctors since we can put bandaids on wounds”
Psychology is about a lot more that what LLMs can do
Doesn’t mean psychology can’t be ruined by AI anyway.
so is art or even programming for that matter, but here we are.
Anything that requires physical work. Manufacturing, trades, etc… But, there’s the caveat that AI may still indirectly affect these too.
Physical stuff. Electrician, plumber, HVAC. I do IT and networking primarily on the physical side which is an option. I wouldn’t suggest buying fully into the “trades make lots of money” propaganda but once you’re established you’ll be comfortable and they’re all jobs that can’t be automated or offshored.
Be realistic about the pay drop though if you decide to go this route. I would kill to be a slop dev because it would pay like twice what I’m getting right now, but I’m still pretty junior in my field.
[off topic?]
I recommend this book to anyone thinking about a career change.
“Discover What You Are Best At.” Linda Gail. Six self tests you can finish in half a day, and a list of jobs that use those skills. Jobs range from zero new training to post college.
Really helped me when I was looking for career advice.
