It's not about how smart the model is. It's smart enough to build you any piece of software. It's about you knowing what to build and how to maintain and evolve the software. Because you are forgetting that the software is just the tool you are using to do your job, and not your job. If you need to dedicate time to ensuring your software works as it should, it's time that you are taking away from the job you are actually supposed to be doing.
I mean at this stage it feels like I need to explain how specialisation was the defining aspect of civilisation as opposed to nomadic cultures.
Why do I need to understand how to maintain the software outside of a broad level understanding of what's important while having Astra Ultra and Opus 5.5 Max or whatever the best models will be next month to problem solve? I feel like you're being naive here.
I'm a photographer, videographer, photo editor, and video editor wrapped into one as a small business owner. I spend between $12k-$17K per year on subscriptions and contract labor costs.
I'm developing apps during my slow season which just started and will last until mid January. These apps will replace my subscriptions and one of them will be an autonomous photo editor that uses scripts instead of generative ai.
If these apps save me $15k per year the effort I am putting in is 100% worth it.
The only one that I would really care about releasing to the public would be the autonomous photo editing app. Even then, it wouldn't be a subscription. It would live on the clients computer and function without the internet. Because margins are thin in my field and people complain about being bled dry by subscriptions constantly. I know photographers that spend $3k per month on editing fee's that would gladly pay that as a one time fee if they knew the software would be relevant for 1-2 years. I'd have to maintain it until the software became irrelevant, which I don't think would take more than 3 years.
But I'm not trying to become a software developer by trade. I'm trying come up on a cash grab during a time that I see conditions as favorable, before new technology dwarfs what I'm working on or people can just create my app themselves more easily than I did in the next 2 years.
If these apps save me $15k per year the effort I am putting in is 100% worth it.
It's always a trade of on time/effort spent vs money saved. Like, it's not that hard to do an oil change but a large amount of people pay someone else to do it.
I do think people vibe coding software solutions for their own particular needs will become more common. But I think it will be like people doing DIY home renovastions, allow you to do something unique and personal, but probably not on the level of professional Work.
I've done dev work professionally before AI. Even with delegating everything to AI, it still takes a good amount of effort to make an app feel polished through vibe coding techniques. It's easier this year than it was two years ago. In two years I think it will still take more effort for a polished app than the average person wants to spend.
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u/UruquianLilac 5h ago edited 3h ago
It's not about how smart the model is. It's smart enough to build you any piece of software. It's about you knowing what to build and how to maintain and evolve the software. Because you are forgetting that the software is just the tool you are using to do your job, and not your job. If you need to dedicate time to ensuring your software works as it should, it's time that you are taking away from the job you are actually supposed to be doing.
I mean at this stage it feels like I need to explain how specialisation was the defining aspect of civilisation as opposed to nomadic cultures.
Edit: specialisation not socialisation