> Then I needed a regex with grep. I described the problem to Gemini and > it gave me a solution. I tried it and it did not work. I told it that it > didn't work, it apologized and gave me the same solution. I literally > had a 15 minute argument with Gemini about its wrong answer. I asked it > if it had access to a Linux box to test the solution - LOL. Finally, it > gave me a piece of the right answer and I got it to work. So... did I > save time over searching the Interwebs? Maybe, maybe not.
It's possible the answer was correct and was just using a different dialect than the one you were using. Simple regexes without using anything fancy generally work across everything, but once you start getting into capture groups, especially named capture groups, backreferences, look-aheads and look-behinds, etc., then you start getting into implementation specific syntax or just missing features altogether. Though I guess if you told it you were using grep then it should have just worked. I mostly use JetBrains tools so I'll use it's AI to ask it things that I don't feel like looking up or I can't find the right answer quickly. One thing recently was how to write a MongoDB (not my choice) query to do something and didn't feel like going through a ton of documentation since I'm not familiar with it's query syntax and the available options, and it gave me a query that got the data I wanted. I did check to make sure that what it gave me was correct based on the documentation though. > As other have said, "I'm glad I'm retired." Well, not quite... four > years to go. I've been doing this now for 16 years... though I still have more than that to go before I reach the "official" retirement age. My goal however is to "retire" sooner than that. On Fri, Jul 4, 2025, at 9:14 AM, George Toft via PLUG-discuss wrote: > Your exposition on H1B was much deeper than I expected. I knew the > reasoning was because they "can't find an American to work..." for peanuts. > > My Linux (there - on-topic) journey with AI is a mixed bag, and that > disclaimer at the bottom is very wise: Gemini can make mistakes, so > double-check it > > I needed a SQL query. I described what I needed to Gemini (only > Generative AI I can access from work), and in 10 seconds, it gave me the > perfect answer with a tutorial. Yay AI! > > Then I needed a regex with grep. I described the problem to Gemini and > it gave me a solution. I tried it and it did not work. I told it that it > didn't work, it apologized and gave me the same solution. I literally > had a 15 minute argument with Gemini about its wrong answer. I asked it > if it had access to a Linux box to test the solution - LOL. Finally, it > gave me a piece of the right answer and I got it to work. So... did I > save time over searching the Interwebs? Maybe, maybe not. > > So far, I'm getting about 60-70% accurate Linux answers from Gemini. > > My colleagues that use Copilot report they are getting about the same > with their programming tasks. Copilot writes code in the same style as > the human, and makes mistakes in the same style. > > So programming isn't dead yet. Getting there. Coding (at least where I > work) has been relegated to the status of factory assembly work. > Mindless, boring, and pretty low skill. What I learned about data > structures and such LAST CENTURY is now replaced by libraries the coders > include as they need them. I doubt seriously today programmers have any > clue about the math behind a binary search. I've had discussions about > database performance based on the number of records. Blank stares. > Getting replaced by someone using AI is the next logical step in driving > expenses downward. > > Looking into my crystal ball, which is about as foggy as my brain, I > think the demand for Code Reviews and QA Testers will increase. Sure, > let AI code up an app based on a really good set of prompts, but ya > gotta test the hell out of it. Boundary conditions, erroneous user > input, network failures. Maybe I'm looking into an alternate future > where the mantra is "Don't let perfection get in the way of 'good enough.'" > > As other have said, "I'm glad I'm retired." Well, not quite... four > years to go. > > Regards, > > George Toft > > On 7/3/2025 5:39 PM, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss wrote: > > First, H1B workers have been getting abused for over a decade. > > > > Every email I get from job shops is from someone with an Indian name and > > when I talk to them, it’s really hard to understand them for their thick > > accents. The Indian companies have pretty much taken over job placement in > > America, in large part because from what I’ve heard, people pool their > > money to send someone over here to set up a business. All it takes (!) is > > $250k deposited into an on-shore American bank, a type of visa issued to > > people who say they’re here to start a new business with said funds and who > > promise to hire at least 5 (or so?) employees. The thing is, there are no > > restrictions on who they hire! So what they do is use this as a way to > > funnel people from their little group back home over to America. They set > > them up with H1B visas, bring them over here, and work as a job shop to get > > them into places at whatever rates they can get. > > > > When I talk to these guys, their first question is always, “What’s your > > rate and availability, Mr. David? No matter what rate I say, they almost > > always come back and say, “Oh, my, the client is only able to pay $22 or > > maybe $23 per hour.” This is for a job req looking for for a “Senior > > Developer” with 10+ years of experience! > > > > See, the only thing the Dept of Labor requires them to show is that they > > were unable to hire any Americans for the position in order to justify > > hiring a foreigner. DOL never asks WHY. So I think you know you’re working > > with one of these cheap family-owned groups when they keep low-balling the > > rate because they need to justify hiring their family members. > > > > But the other side is AI. I think every job that relies predominantly on > > what I’d call “analytical” skills will be mostly replaced by AI. Jobs that > > involve some amount of physical labor, regardless of how much analytical > > skills are needed, will take many years to be replaced. > > > > Note that 100% of programming is analytical in nature, so this thing we > > call “programming” is going to disappear pretty quickly. The only reason we > > do it is because “coding” is an intermediate language we use to get stuff > > out of our heads and into a form that can be studied and communicated to > > other humans. Machines can’t make sense of it, so it’s a formal language > > that can be reduced to binary files that execute tasks represented as lists > > of CPU instructions. > > > > I’ll say it again: programming languages exist for the convenience of HUMAN > > PROGRAMMERS. Without us in the loop, the “code” is extraneous. AI will go > > from a high-level description and some interview questions directly to > > running code that can be tweaked by the person creating the app. > > > > Yes, this will eliminate a couple of million jobs by 2030. But it’s going > > to create HUGE opportunities for a new kind of “creator” class of workers. > > > > Frankly, I’m glad I’m retired and don’t have to rely on my programming > > skills any more. But I’m eager to see what lies ahead. > > > > -David Schwartz > > > > > > > > > >> On Jul 3, 2025, at 1:13 PM, George Toft via PLUG-discuss > >> <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> I would like to add... > >> > >> 1. From a paper posted at work as required by the Department of Labor. > >> Tata Consultancy is providing H1B Visa workers to be Database > >> Administrators for $66K/year. Tata is well known to take 1/3 off the top, > >> so that means H1B worker gets $44K/year. That's $22/hr. In Phoenix. That > >> is what we - as IT workers - are competing with. My children with no > >> college education make more than that. > >> > >> 2. Oh, it gets better with AI. I went to an all-day AI conference (it was > >> actually three days, but it made me physically ill, or maybe it was > >> something I ate). The presenters demonstrated how Generative AI can be > >> used in social media posts and on Instagram. The presenter admitted he > >> hadn't made a post in six months - he had AI generate a video of him > >> talking, lip-synched to his AI-generated voice, making hand gestures. He > >> also demonstrated live how to get ChatGPT to make LinkedIn posts that > >> sound like him. And then, he told us how he was able to avoid hiring an > >> executive assistant by collaborating with three AI Generalists for two > >> days. So eight labor-days of AI Engineer salary was expended to avoid the > >> recurring annual cost of a person's job. > >> > >> 3. Microsoft laid off 6000 last quarter and announced 3000 more, with AI > >> stepping into many of the roles. > >> https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxl0w1w394o > >> > >> 4. Even in my own web-hosting, the host switched their live chat to a > >> chatbot. I had to migrate one of my sites from one type of account to > >> another about two months ago, and again on another site last week, and > >> needed guidance both times. In the first migration, a human on the chat > >> helped me. On the second, it was some Agentic AI. The chatbot was faster > >> than the human and gave me perfect answers, going so far as to weave in > >> parts of my question in its answer. It felt like it was straight out of > >> ChatGPT. And that's a problem - the AI gave me better customer service > >> than the human. > >> > >> Regards, > >> > >> George Toft > >> > >> On 7/2/2025 12:28 AM, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss wrote: > >>> I think H1B visas for programmers and engineers should be FROZEN for 5 > >>> years. > >>> > >>> AI is going to be transforming both the programming world and many > >>> engineering roles. As a result, I believe there are going to be more > >>> software people dumped on the market over the next 5 years than we had > >>> after Y2k. > >>> > >>> Unfortunately, most of these folks are going to be US Citizens rather > >>> than H1B visa holders, for reasons I alluded to earlier. > >>> > >>> Congress should block all further H1B hires and demand companies spend > >>> that money on retraining their existing US workers rather than dump them > >>> into a rapidly shrinking job market and replacing them with foreigners. > >>> > >>> Unfortunately, most of the 25 wealthiest billionaires in America also > >>> happen to run companies that have huge staffs of software and hardware > >>> engineers. So given the current political climate, what’s the likelihood > >>> that there will be any significant change in current policies? > >>> > >>> -David Schwartz > >>> > >>> --------------------------------------------------- > >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > >>> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > >> --------------------------------------------------- > >> PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > --------------------------------------------------- > > PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list: [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >
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