52 Weeks of Cloud

DevOps Narrow AI Debunking Flowchart

Episode Summary

I debunk claims of AI replacing developers. Narrow AI remains a buggy, but useful tool while DevOps proves its worth.

Episode Notes

Extensive Notes: The Truth About AI and Your Coding Job

Types of AI

• Narrow AI

  • Not truly intelligent
  • Pattern matching and full text search
  • Examples: voice assistants, coding autocomplete
  • Useful but contains bugs
  • Multiple narrow AI solutions compound bugs
  • Get in, use it, get out quickly

• AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)

  • No evidence we're close to achieving this
  • May not even be possible
  • Would require human-level intelligence
  • Needs consciousness to exist
  • Consciousness: ability to recognize what's happening in environment
  • No concept of this in narrow AI approaches
  • Pure fantasy and magical thinking

• ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence)

  • Even more fantasy than AGI
  • No evidence at all it's possible
  • More science fiction than reality

The DevOps Flowchart Test

1. Can you explain what DevOps is?

   • If no → You're incompetent on this topic
   • If yes → Continue to next question

2. Does your company use DevOps?

   • If no → You're inexperienced and a magical thinker
   • If yes → Continue to next question

3. Why would you think narrow AI has any form of intelligence?

   • Anyone claiming AI will automate coding jobs while understanding DevOps is likely:
     • A magical thinker
     • Unaware of scientific process
     • A grifter

Why DevOps Matters

• Proven methodology similar to Toyota Way
• Based on continuous improvement (Kaizen)
• Look-and-see approach to reducing defects
• Constantly improving build systems, testing, linting
• No AI component other than basic statistical analysis
• Feedback loop that makes systems better

The Reality of Job Automation

• People who do nothing might be eliminated
  • Not AI automating a job if they did nothing
• Workers who create negative value
  • People who create bugs at 2AM
  • Their elimination isn't AI automation

Measuring Software Quality

• High churn files correlate with defects
• Constant changes to same file indicate not knowing what you're doing
• DevOps patterns help identify issues through:
  • Tracking file changes
  • Measuring complexity
  • Code coverage metrics
  • Deployment frequency

Conclusion

• Very early stages of combining narrow AI with DevOps
• Narrow AI tools are useful but limited
• Need to look beyond magical thinking
• Opinions don't matter if you:
  • Don't understand DevOps
  • Don't use DevOps
  • Claim to understand DevOps but believe narrow AI will replace developers

Raw Assessment

• If you don't understand DevOps → Your opinion doesn't matter
• If you understand DevOps but don't use it → Your opinion doesn't matter
• If you understand and use DevOps but think AI will automate coding jobs → You're likely a magical thinker or grifter