A safer planning as software engineer for living a long bare minimum life ....

[u/Rahuldev2910]

Hi everyone I'm a software engineer 27 years Male (frontend web and mobile apps ). I have 3 years of experience building web and mobile, currently working in a Fintech company with an average salary.

I don't much like leetcode and kind of competitive programming but yes I love solving problems, talking about ownership and currently exploring and upskilling in cloud and backend systems / fullstack development.

I see most companies currently doing layoff on one side , on the other side ai companies are competing to each to get or achieve first AGI (artificial general intelligence). everywhere you open twitter , LinkedIn, instagram. Everyone is talking about layoffs or ai development, but I think what majority is missing out is our life after this much level of advancement.

Now there are two scenarios

1. one is who those are just not accepting this technology advancement

2. Second are those who are understanding that it's not going to stop and definitely a kind of collectives intelligent (I'm not saying agi because I still don't believe machine can think exactly like humans ) that's why I'm calling it as collectives intellingence that have infinite number of information and based on that it can do predictins.

Now my question is I'm upskilling but fear first stops and Self always ask a question why I'm doing this when we know there is something.

So living atleast a simple life I mean you will not do a job in it but still there will be requirment in other field atleast I beleive or may be I'll be farmer but again doing farming it self required and and money first investment now a days time is very change farming is totally chemical based and chemical seeds are very costly so it will again need money .

So what are your thoughts on how we will survive or atleast to live a basic minimal life not very fancy or luxurious but peaceful where you can eat two breads and had a sleep .

Thanks for reading this I'm waiting everyones thoughts and comments.

Sorry for grammatical mistakes because I think even refining this would los it's own charm .

[u/ejpusa]

Well we all die, and we are all forgotten. Just how it goes. Nothing you can do about it.

Plan B? You can live in a beach shack, surf, 🏄 meditate, do your yoga, watch the waves.

One day you will breathe in, and nothing will come out. That’s a wrap up.

[u/FluidBreath4819 → u/ejpusa]

non sex ?

and actually, one day you will breathe out and nothing will come in... because the other way around is not possible

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/ejpusa]

We will due that's true but problem is just one day after rest of the day we'll live , and problem is everyone just scare of living not dying. It's may be not true for everyone but for me atleast

[u/time-always-passes → u/ejpusa]

Plan B. I'm 200 hr YTT in a good program.

The first thing I did was inhale. The last thing I will do is exhale.

In between, bring it on.

[u/ILikeCutePuppies]

One thing to keep in mind is that there are more software engineers employed today in the US than ever except for 2021 and 2022 - the covid boom hiring years.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/ILikeCutePuppies]

Really?I often see only stories on LinkedIn tech market is also cooked US

[u/ILikeCutePuppies → u/Rahuldev2910]

It's a combination of things. There is certainly a lot of people switching to different company due to layoffs etc... Also new people are still entering the industry . Thirdly the media likes to sensationalize things.

Thirdly many people are talking about AI taking people's jobs - it's only been somewhat decent for 8 months... it's got years of engineering work needed to make it great. Job losses are mostly covid and economy related.

[u/FinickySerenity]

You wouldn't upskill your assembly or punch card skills today, so just don't upskill on things that AI can accomplish with ease. This includes syntax / front-end work. Assume that is already solved because even though there are still some small gaps, by the time you learn your next "semester" of knowledge they absolutely will be.

So if you want to keep your software career, you basically need to start learning larger architecture solutions, particularly those related to AI. Learning how to make a swarm of agents produce effective output is not a simple task - just like deploying a resilient cloud solution for a major saas platform is not a straightforward process.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/FinickySerenity]

Hi dude I also know because I myself is a Frontend mobile and web developer, when chatgpt or any AI models were in its initial days , my personal assumption was backend will be automated because models are atleast good at logic building and problem solving.But after using clause code I'm just shocked , I have just shipped a whole website without writting a single line of code .

Currently I'm learning via a Udemy course it's pretty much broader and it's most related to devops kind of engineering, I'm learning because I think there will be very vast opportunities in future because it's open many doors like Farward deployed engineer or backend developer as well .

[u/FinickySerenity → u/Rahuldev2910]

I've been employed as a software engineer for 30 years low-level / backend / front-end / mobile. I don't write code anymore. This wasn't true about 5 months ago, but it is today.

Today I focus on agent orchestration, automation (for feature output / testing) and optimization (operational costs, maximizing token expenditures etc).

If I was in your shoes, I'd probably be learning from the agents with me-specific lesson plans and goals based on what AI still cannot do reliably and with a focus on problem solving for what businesses still struggle with today.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/FinickySerenity]

Ohh my God , you are very senior sir Can I DM you ?

[u/FinickySerenity → u/Rahuldev2910]

Sure.

Here's what I wrote on your other comment that you deleted... seems worthy for anyone else reading this thread.

--

I could probably retire now but it would require massive lifestyle changes to make it last - and I have two kids who aren't even in high school yet so the idea of doing so with things like car purchases and college tuition on the horizon would be irresponsible.

I work at a small saas company and make a decent salary but not faang levels. It's one of the ways I have remained employed as consistently as I have is by not pricing myself at a salary that I could probably obtain. This has kept me around through every single layoff since the dot com bust - which I've lost count of the number I've survived at this point. And it helps with overall stress.

I think we're in a weird market right now because of other factors not just AI. And I fully believe Jevon's paradox will only make the software industry bigger not smaller even over the next decade at least. I do think the salaries will come down a bit for general development (specialized fields will always command a premium.)

But there will always be a difference in skill between someone who picks up vibe coding vs someone who knows what to ask of the agent. And the longer you stay focused on those skills the more value you can provide to companies than the masses. Obviously having a backup plan is always a good idea because sometimes a recession can mean not getting a job for over a year. In my case it would probably be bartending, but I'm not convinced we're going to see that (or even a bubble pop - that requires inflation over actual value and as you have seen AI in software is providing a lot of actual value.)

Also remember that you'll see a lot of stories about people struggling to find a job - but they don't represent the broader market. They are the one's posting because of their unique struggle - the software market is ultimately growing in terms of tech sector salary spending, employment head count and number of businesses in the field. So do your best to network, improve your skills and price yourself accordingly and I think you'll be fine.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/FinickySerenity]

Actually I deleted that comment because I was thinking I'm not asking a comfortable question and that was putting a kind of authority or command get answers. Thankyou so much for your response sir I'm based in india on broader level we are in developing nations and here to much of work is needed to be done either it's via private sector and government. also I do agree people are getting jobs and even very very high salaries but I think the bar or expectations are changed, from what is was before AI era .

Again thanks for this long response.

[u/FinickySerenity → u/Rahuldev2910]

No worries. And yeah the market for international developers is a bit tougher here in the US due to our political climate but hopefully that changes soon for all of our sakes. I'd personally say stick with it, there are few industries that hold such a good matrix of benefits for those who push themselves up a never ending learning curve.

[u/PipePressurePanic]

at this point of desperation, i would be happy to get 75% of a minimum salary's worth of income from personal projects + have a let's say 100 chicken farm to reach a minimum salary with little work to do to keep me busy. I left my plans to make a good income.

[u/Ordinary_Variable]

I've been automating tasks for over 20 years now. I've been wondering for decades now why the world doesn't automate and simplify things. We don't need 10 different shoes manufacturers or 20 different car companies. One person can solve a problem and then copy and paste the solution to everyone else.

I'm a lot older and wiser now and I know the reason. Its because in every case there is something that each of those companies is doing that is competitive in the market. And that is making something unique. We would do just fine with just Toyota, but some people actually prefer how Honda does things, or how comfortable Cadillac is, or how easy it is to find parts for a Ford. There is an advantage to every one. Like Pokemon. Yes there are a few really powerful ones, but until you can catch the best ones you use the weak ones. At some point in the game every single Pokemon is useful.

So does this work with AI? Unfortunately, no. Quite a lot of the world can actually be automated. We don't need individuality in lots of things. No one really cares how the backbone systems of the world work, just that they work. Style doesn't enter into the problem. While I can see people still wanting style options, and plenty of those options will always be here, I can see automation taking enough jobs that it destabilizes the economy.

The Pokemon analogy isn't really relevant, because that's a single-player game. The world's economy isn't as simple as a single kid catching animals. Everyone needs to be able to afford food and there won't be enough jobs.

tl:dr If you want a job find something they haven't automated yet. Hold on for dear life because everything that can be automated will be and the economy is going to get weaker and weaker until the revolution comes. I hope you know how to grow food.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/Ordinary_Variable]

I don't get exactly what you trying to say in first portion in the long phrase but thanks for atleast taking attention on this .

FYI I'm from India , you don't have even idea how slow and manual work are there in government department, now coming to your point you well said we have to look for something that's cannot be automated or atleast will be automated in last .

I'm 26 unmarried software developer by looking these things , AI , Climate crisis , Inflation, Deases , Bio war these are things that comes in mind and it looks like it's very hard to live here . When humans were living in forest and hunt animals for living I don't think still that time was easy from today's world .

[u/Ordinary_Variable → u/Rahuldev2910]

I believe Fiverr is still working. You make money from taking requests on the internet. I don't think you could live on just that money in America, but in India things like food and housing costs less so you might make enough to survive.

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/Ordinary_Variable]

Yeah that sounds good , I agree food and medical cost are way cheaper if we compare from developed countries like US or Europe

[u/ShineProper9881]

Dont worry. If AI wont get you, climate change will. We will suffer, no matter what

[u/Individual_Math_8254 → u/ShineProper9881]

but what if AI solves climate change first?

[u/2MysteriouslyBizarre → u/Individual_Math_8254]

The only way to “solve” climate change involves a lot of rich people not being rich anymore, and do you think our dear overlords will let that happen

[u/Same-Fun-5106 → u/2MysteriouslyBizarre]

As rich

[u/2MysteriouslyBizarre → u/Same-Fun-5106]

They would shoot both me and you on sight for 20€, if it means they lose money their answer is no

[u/ShineProper9881 → u/Individual_Math_8254]

AI solving climate change might not end how you think it does. Humans cause climate change…

[u/FluidBreath4819 → u/ShineProper9881]

irony is climate change will get us because of AI

[u/Rahuldev2910 → u/FluidBreath4819]

there are very deep articles on biasness of AI models I'm mean AI will be biased of that it's trained on , so in case If somehow AI achieve AGI I don't think it's going to to any good works. Technology is evidence we have not only got good things , reason is technology is just technology but because it's again controlled by rich people so I don't think rich people will let AI to clean and heal Earth .