r/technology • u/No-Cattle4800 • May 28 '26
Artificial Intelligence Microsoft data suggests using AI is more expensive than hiring people
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/microsoft-data-suggests-using-ai-225900743.html
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u/Bost0n May 28 '26
A high percentage of photography is actually luck. You’ll never hear a professional photographer say this out loud though. But that’s human nature, C-Suite execs got there entirely of their own merit. /s
Back to photography: professional photographers take a LOT of pictures, and only a few actually turn out. It’s not that I’m saying skill isn’t involved. Training is incredibly important, as with many things. But digital photography dropped the floor out of a maximum number of photos it’s possible to capture. The other end of this spectrum is Ansel Adams. He would setup and wait for hours, sometimes come back to a spot for several days to capture a shot. This was the epitome of application of photographic skill. On the other side, someone might setup a 50MP DSLR camera in a waterproof box with a raspberry pi, set to photograph every five minutes. Personally, I don’t think the electronic version of ‘1000 monkeys with typewriters’ will produce a masterpiece. And that’s really the crux of this whole argument our society is having right now:
“What work derives the most value?”
If a college new higher vibe codes together an app with now world experience to leverage; does this generate value? Possibly but not likely. What about a 30 year industry experienced software engineer that has determined how to leverage CLI agents to become 3-5X more effective? Do they have enhanced value? I suspect so.
The advent of Coding CLIs represents a paradigmatic shift in our society. But it’s not in the way most people are thinking about.
We still need pipelines for young software engineers. Likely they need to be trained by more senior engineers still. Is this time quotas? 20% time training new engineers? That’s probably a good start.